Just Another Gamer
by Harutora75
Summary: REWRITE IS UP!When you see a blue window appearing before you, you would be excited or scared or whatsoever. Well for our protagonist, Issei Hyoudou, there is only one thing that would describe his situation. Complete and utter chaos. Gamer!Issei, Issei x Harem.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:I do not own Highschool DxD or the Gamer**

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 **Hi your probably wondering what this is, well it's simple your now a Gamer, thanks to some higher existence, possibly from another dimension, he decided to screw with your life by giving you this ability. Enjoy.**

That's what I saw when I woke up, a blue text box saying these exact words, complete with a health and mana bar hovering over my head when I got up and got in front of my mirror.

There was only one sentence that could sum up my entire situation.

"I'm screwed aren't I."

 **Issei Hyoudou – Level 1**

 **The Gamer**

I tried to touch the box but to surprise my fingers only pass through them, okay this has to be a joke, maybe it was because I stayed up too late playing games last night.

"yeah that's probably it." I said to myself certain on the situation, I then did my usual routine, and went downstairs, I went to the living room and saw something I didn't expect.

I saw my Mom sitting on the couch, watching TV but that's not what surprised me.

 **Akari Hyoudou – Level 5**

 **Housewife**

My Mom had a status bar above her head, along with a level.

What the hell was going on!? okay calm down Issei, I'm hallucinating that's it.

"Ah, Issei. your awake." Mom said when she noticed me. "I left your lunch on the table, quick you'll be late for school." I noticed the time.

"Shit I'm late!" I yelled as I grabbed my Bag, I quickly took off,leaving the house at a fast speed when a blue window appeared.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **RUN, RUN, RUN: Get to Kouh Academy before the time runs out.**

 **Completion Reward: 300 exp**

 **Increase of reputation and with Souna Shitori**

 **Completion Failure: Decrease of reputation with Sona Shitori**

 **Punishment: Stay outside of Kouh, until tomorrow**

 **Yes – No**

"what kind of question is that?!" I said while pressing the yes button, making the window disappear, I then ran like I was being chased by the kendo club for peeping on them(which was not unlikely) and was able to get in on time.

I got to the classroom moments before homeroom started, with the teacher right behind me. Once the class began, I was unable to keep my mind on the lecture, so I began thinking about what had happened after I reached school. Once I had arrived just in time, a quest completion message was displayed, letting me know that I had succeeded. There was also another message, something that made me interested in it.

 **Your VIT has increased by 1.**

I also had stats? How am I supposed to check them? Hmm quick brain think, In a game, there would be a menu, or a button, on the Heads Up Display. From the looks of things, the only thing that showed up were people's names and levels. The only health bar I could see was mine. But if this really is similar to a game, there must be some way to check the stats,since there is no interface, and since I don't want to look crazy swiping the air, I now know it was voice commanded, a blue window then appeared in front of me.

 **By carefully shifting through the data at hand to find proper information, you have created the skill [Observe].**

 **Observe – Level 1 – Exp 0.0%**

 **Information is power. With the right information, you can turn any adverse situation in your favor. Without it, you may flounder like a fish without water. Observe your surroundings carefully to find important information. The higher the level, the better information you will get.**

 **Passively Increase INT by 10%**

 **Passively Increase WIS by 10%**

Okay… So by figuring out that the commands are voice activated I created a skill? Sweet! Let's see how it works. Let's try it on the book. "[Observe]" I whisper the command, and to my delight a window pops up.

 **Math book for High school**

 **A textbook based on math for helping highschool students learn**

…well that was anticlimatic, guess this is how far a level 1 skill goes.

Hmm I got it, after morning classes ended I quickly went to the rooftop at lunch.

"Status window" when I said that, in my delight, a blue window appeared.

 **Hyoudou Issei – Level 1**

 **The Gamer**

 **Hyoudou Issei is a sophomore at Kuoh Academy. He is famous for his unbridled lust for the female body, and his unyielding love for breasts. He is known as the Oppai Baka amongst the student body, and is hated by the general female populace.**

…you know what status window, screw you.

 **HP 200/200**

 **MP 45/50**

 **STR 8**

 **VIT 10**

 **DEX 7**

 **INT 5**

 **WIS 4**

 **LUC ?**

 **Points 0**

 **Money 500**

From the looks of it, I spent some MP while using the Observe skill. Other than that the stats seem to be quite evenly distributed, although from the looks of it, my mental stats are lower than my physical stats. Even a status window is telling me I'm stupid, and what's with my luck, is this the reason why my luck is so shitty sometimes!

In any case, my life was going to be interesting, no matter how good or worse it was.

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 **Author's note: so I was inspired to do this from reading some Highschool DxD gamer fics, and decided to make my own, there are going to be some changes though for example, Boosted Gear will look like its light novel version instead of it's anime counterpart. and some events happening like Issei dying from Raynare isn't going to happen. There will be cannon but some chapter's will be OOC, Issei will obviously be different this time, behavior and all ,due to the Gamer ability but he will still be a pervert.**

 **Here are some honorable mentions and inspiring stories written by other writers.**

 **Issei's Gamer Life was harder than he expected by NickTheHun**

 **Hyoudou Issei : The Gamer by andrew9495**

 **Issei and the Game of Life by Spktr Alpha**

 **Welp, that's it for now, hope you guy's like this, please review, fave or follow, whichever come's first. see you later**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: oh yeah, I was going to bring in a Typemoon character but he won't really be in this fic, he'll be more like a guide.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD, Typemoon, or the Gamer**

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After school ended, I then was able to meet up with Matsuda and Motohama and saw their status window before leaving.

 **Matsuda Hamada – Level 1**

 **Sexual Harassment Paparazzi**

 **A student at Kouh Academy, a self-proclaimed lolicon, and one of Issei's best friends, Matsuda Hamada was a former jock and school sports star but decided to become a pervert instead, goal is to see and picture compromising pictures of a naked girls parts.**

 **Ryouma Motohama – Level 1**

 **Three Sizes Scouter**

 **A student of Kouh Academy, a perverted guy with glasses, and Issei's other best friend, Ryouma Motohama, he uses his glasses as a scouter to observe great details for perverseness, he can observe the three measurements of a girl with one look.**

… **you really need new friends.**

Oh haha very funny asshole, then a new window appeared.

 **[Observe]'s level has been increased by one.**

Oh sweet, I can level them up huh? Hmm I think I forgot about my skills, alright let's try it out

"[Skills]"and a new window appeared in front of me what I have.

 **Gamer's Mind (Passive) – Max**

 **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effect.**

Hmm, so I'm able to think more calmly now, I'm impressed. Let's see what the next one is.

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) – Max**

 **The body's durability increases, allowing for less damage taken. 27% decrease in damage taken by attacks.** **Sleeping in a bed restores HP, MP and all status effects.**

*whistles* damn, this is what I call convenient.

 **Observe – Level 2 – Exp 0.0%**

 **Information is power. With the right information, you can turn any adverse situation in your favor. Without it, you may flounder like a fish without water. Observe your surroundings carefully to find important information. The higher the level, the better information you will get.**

 **Passively Increase INT by 11%**

 **Passively Increase WIS by 11%**

Woah, my passive boosted up by 1%, excellent.

I quickly dismissed the window and continued on my way home, until I spotted something in the alley and quickly observed it.

"[Observe]" I said, then a blue window appeared

 **Crowbar – Attack Power – 50%**

 **A simple crowbar.**

Ha, I knew it, hmm I wonder."[Inventory]", when I said that a blue window with slots appeared, Yes! I knew it. I then put the crowbar inside and dismissed the window, I was going to leave but then I heard a voice.

"Hey kid" I then turned around saw 3 big guys, probably thugs, surround me.

 **Thug Leader – Level 6**

 **Thug – Level 3**

 **Thug – Level 2**

A blue window then appeared.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Time for a beatdown: it's simple, defeat this cannon fodder and win.**

 **Completion Reward: 5000 Exp**

 **1000 money**

 **new skills**

 **Completion Failure: 500 Exp,**

 **100 money**

 **No skill**

 **Yes/No**

"Give us all your money and we won't hurt you." The one in front said with a cruel grin, the others simply cracked their knuckles, mirroring his expressions.

I didn't respond for a moment…and then I grinned.

So this is what it was for huh? I thought evilly. I then pressed the [Yes] button, making the window disappear.

"H-Huh, what's with that expression?" the leader said confused, I greeted his face with a fist.

Making him scream and stunned, he fell on the floor, the second thug then tried to punch me but I sidestepped, gave five blows to his stomach then decided to give his face a makeover with a right haymaker, he crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

The third one then tried to slash me with a combat knife, making me move backward, almost hitting me before I grabbed his arm making him stop, disarmed the knife, then slammed my fist across his chest, knocking the air right out of him, making him bend down, I then used it to my advantage by grabbing his face and banged it against the wall several times, and finished with a right punch, making him fly before he hit the floor, with blood dripping down his face.

After I was finished I felt a blow to my head.

"Gaah" I managed to scream out before I was able to properly stand, making me see my health status.

 **HP 130/200**

 **MP 50/50**

I then turned around and saw the thug leader wielding an iron bat, i observed his weapon.

 **Iron Bat – Attack Power – 70**

 **Used by this Thug, it's smashed many people's heads, making it a bloody weapon.**

"It's payback time bitch, any last words" He said with a grin, ready to bash my head with it.

"…yeah" I then hid my hands behind my back, then I grinned. "[Equip Crowbar]"

The crowbar then appeared in my hands and before he could react I already pounced on him and bashed his head with it.

"Aaah!" he screamed out, then he tried to swing the bat but I dodged it before smacking the right side of his face with my crowbar many times then I used a brawl kick to knock him out, finishing the fight with a curbstomp on his head for good measure against the floor.

I was panting slightly, man that fight was tiring, several new window's appeared

 **Congratulations! Quest Complete**

 **Time for a Beat Down**

 **Completion Award: 5000 Exp**

 **1000 money**

 **new skills**

 **By completing the quest, you now have upgraded and obtained several skills**

 **Freestyle Brawling (Passive) – Level 5 – 0.0%**

 **Allows the user to freely fight enemies with no fault**

 **Passively increase STR by 1%**

 **Passively increase VIT by 1%**

 **Passively increase DEX by 2%**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery (Passive) – Level 3 – 5.35%**

 **Allows user to freely handle blunt weapons.**

 **10% increase in STR with blunt weapons.**

 **5% increase in DEX with blunt weapon.**

 **At level five,**

 **it gives a 30% increase in STR when using blunt weapons and a 10% increase in DEX.**

 **Physical Endurance (Passive)– Level 3 – 9.10%**

 **the body's durability increases, allowing for less damage taken.**

 **27% decrease in damage taken by attacks.**

 **Observe – Level 4 – Exp 4.0%**

 **Information is power. With the right information, you can turn any adverse situation in your favor. Without it, you may flounder like a fish without water. Observe your surroundings carefully to find important information. The higher the level, the better information you will get.**

 **Passively Increase INT by 14%**

 **Passively Increase WIS by 14%**

 **You have gained a new level! You have gained a new level! You have gained a new level!**

 **Your STR has increased by 2.**

 **Your Vitality has increased by 2.**

 **Hyoudou Issei – Level 5**

 **The Gamer**

 **HP 200/200**

 **MP 200/200**

 **STR 10(1+)**

 **VIT 12(1+)**

 **DEX 7(2+)**

 **INT 5(4+)**

 **WIS 4(4+)**

 **LUC ?**

 **Points 20**

 **Money 1500**

…hehe…hahaha…HAHAHAHA-*coughs a bit*…um okay got a little excited there, anyway that fight really increased my level, skills, and stats, not to mention the fact I now have money with me, my ability really is bullshit.

"Huh" I said when I got a blue window screen.

 **Would you like to read message?**

 **Yes/No**

Hmm a message huh? let's see

 **Yeah hey, so you leveled up huh? Well that's nice, cause you are going to need it,**

Huh? Who is this.

 **My name is Zelretch, A Magus ,Dead Apostle and your Guide. and I am the one who gave you that ability, you see I gave you this ability because in your world, all those things about Devils, Angels and all of that myth stuff, they're all real, and then I thought why not get a normal human to bring these assholes down a notch and cause chaos, and I thought "wouldn't it be perfect if it was this generation's current Sekiryuutei who had this ability" and poof there you are ,don't waste this opportunity because I had to steal some things from other dimension to make your ability work.**

 **now then if you excuse me, I have to go mess with my pupils now, Later and good luck in amusing me.**

The message disappeared, leaving me standing in an alley with three unconscious bodies, moaning and groaning.

…

"Huh" I said confused

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A/N notes:Yeah the one who gave Issei this ability was Zeltretch...please dont kill me.

review,fave,or follow,whichever come's first


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Notes:okay so one of the changes is going to appear in this chapter, i just hope no one wants to kill me for it.**

 **Disclaimer:I dont own anything, i'm just the owner of this story.**

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 **By sleeping in your bed, you have fully recovered your HP and MP and cured all status effects.**

I just sat in my bed, looking at the blue window in tiredness.

"…so it wasn't a dream." I sighed out, I first thought this ability was awesome, but due to the bombshell I was given, I'm just starting to think I'm just being used for a person's amusement, asshole, why can't I just be a normal perverted guy who wants to be a harem king but instead I have to deal with this "Zelretch" guy or something.

I could just skip school but my school's student council president Sona-Kaichou would kill me, I then started my morning usually and went downstairs, I made my way to the kitchen and not only my mom was there but my dad as well! I quickly [Observe]'d him.

 **Daisuke Hyoudou – Level 8**

 **Office Worker**

Huh, his level is higher than mine, whatever.

I started breakfast as usual with my parents, after I was finished I went out of my house when a window with the quest from last time popped up. I pushed the Yes button and I managed to get to school on time.

I was at the schoolyard in lunch with Matsuda and Motohama when I saw someone who caught my eye.

A beautiful girl with white skin, grey eyes, and long, waist length blonde hair with a beauty mole under her left eye, wearing the female Kouh uniform without the shoulder cape, hiding a nice hourglass figure within them.

Matsuda caught the direction my eyes where seeing "ah, that's Yumi Kiba, Kouh Academy's White Princess, a lot of guys are head over heels for her, even making a fan-club just to worship her!. But she usually rejects them."

"Measurements: Ninety-five, fifty-seven, eighty-five" Motohama said with his eyeglasses fogged up.

"You gotta be shittin me." I said with my eyes narrowed, I would usually ogle and nosebleed at a girl's body and beauty but that's not what caught my eye, it's her level and title which caught me off guard.

 **Yumi Kiba – Level 20**

 **Knight of Gremory**

 **Kiba Yumi is a sophomore at Kuoh Gakuen. She is a member of the Occult Research Club and is extremely popular with the guys(and some girls). Other than that, She is a low level devil who is serving as a knight for Rias Gremory, A devil who is heir of the Gremory clan known as the "Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess" and sister of a Maou.**

Shit, I thought Zeltretch was kidding about devils, angels and other crazy stuff he was saying but they were real all along. and look at her level, she's possibly stronger than any student here, and she's only a knight and a low level devil to boot! I have to get stronger.

Matsuda and Motohama looked at me confused, which I noticed and assured them I was fine, we then decided to finish our lunch and after school I was able to gain 5 points to INT. then a window popped up in front of me.

 **By increasing your INT to level 10, you have managed to get a new skill.**

 **Intelligence(Passive) – Level 1 – 0.0%**

 **The ability to understand logic and quick thinking, you are now able to understand things more clearly at a fast rate. Making learning, reading and other things a breeze. Tactics and strategy's easily come to you.**

 **Passively increases INT by 1%**

 **Passively increases WIS by 1%**

Another window appeared before me.

 **Finally! Something useful for an idiot like you.**

Hey you shut up! Seriously this guy is a total asshole.

* * *

It was finally Saturday, wearing a plain red shirt with an open black hoodie, dark blue jeans and red sneakers, I went out to the local park, where I trained my body by doing some exercises, increasing my VIT by 2, and bashing some tree's using the the bat I got from the leader thug awhile back, increasing my STR by 4 and my blunt weapon mastery by 4.

I also managed to get quests when I went to the park.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Hang in there!**

 **Help the kid get his cat back down from the tree. Seriously what's with this cat, how did it get high up so much?**

 **Quest Reward: 200 Exp**

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Help the lady**

 **Be a good guy. Assist the old woman by helping her feed the ducks.**

 **Quest Reward: 100 Exp**

And a whole lot more, but I'll spare you the trouble of actually saying them alright. and hey I managed to level up two times, man I'm on a roll.

I felt something coming from behind me but I managed to dodge it bysidestepping, a blue window then appeared.

 **Through a special action, you created a new skill**

 **Sense Danger (Passive) – Level 1 – 0.0%**

 **Spidey Senses Bitch!** **A natural survival instinct. It allows the user to sense when something bad might happen. The higher the skill level, the earlier the user can sense danger.**

"So you're the little guy who beat up my bro's huh?" I turned around and saw who spoke.

I wished I hadn't.

A large man wearing a plain sleeveless white shirt with washed-out jeans and plain sneakers using brass knuckles as his weapon.

 **Main thug leader – Level 19**

Shit, this man is too high leveled, a window then appeared before me.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **There can only be one**

 **These guy heard you beat up his minions and decided to beat you up, hope you defeat this guy.**

 **Completion Reward: 10000 Exp**

 **1000 money**

 **Yes/No**

…Damn it the reward is too tempting, I pressed the yes button.

The guy then took up a boxing stance, while I took a similar stance, we circled each other for a minute, sizing up each of our weak points when he decided to go for a punch with his right hand at my head, which I quickly blocked with my left hand and countered with a right fist to his chest, which didn't faze him one bit and used a left haymaker to the right side of my face, making me fall down on the ground. When I saw the state of my HP I grimaced.

 **Hp 50/200**

 **Mp 250/250**

Shit this guy is too op.

"wow, that's all you got, really?" he mocked me, making me angry "where did you learn your fighting from. Cause you possibly can't be this weak, bitch"

"Your mom, by the way she's got a nice rack" I said with a grin, blood coming out of my lips.

it didn't seem to be the right choice when he decided to paint the ground with my blood and gave me a kick to the head, which I rolled out of danger and I grabbed his legs making him fall down, it gave me enough time to stand up and I kicked him in the guts before I stepped back a few feet away and equipped both the crowbar and bat.

"Oh now it's on" he said, standing up finally enraged.

we then decided to run up to each other, our blows deflecting each other, I was slowly losing Hp before I managed to get a few lucky hits at his chest, arms and legs. When he went to give me an uppercut to my head, I back stepped and put all of my strength to my arms and I gave his head a massive blow with two of my weapons, Making him dazed. I ended the fight with a swing of my bat to his head. He crumpled to the floor, Finally defeated.

A window appeared.

 **Congratulations! Quest Complete**

 **There can only be one**

 **Completion Reward: 10000 Exp**

 **1000 money**

 **You obtained and upgraded several skills**

 **Freestyle Brawling (Passive) – Level 8 – 0.0%**

 **Allows the user to freely fight enemies with no fault**

 **Passively increase STR by 1%**

 **Passively increase VIT by 1%**

 **Passively increase DEX by 2%**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery (Passive) – Level 9 – 1.0%**

 **Allows user to freely handle blunt weapons.**

 **30% increase in STR with blunt weapons.**

 **10% increase in DEX with blunt weapon.**

 **At level 10,**

 **it gives a 60% increase in STR when using blunt weapons and a 20% increase in DEX.**

 **Physical Endurance (Passive)– Level 6 – 0.0%**

 **the body's durability increases, allowing for less damage taken.**

 **50% decrease in damage taken by attacks.**

 **Dual-Wield (Passive) – Level 4 – 0.0%**

 **Allows the user to dual wield two weapons.**

 **Gives a 70% increase in STR when Dual wielding and a 40% increase in DEX.**

 **Passively increase DEX by 3%**

 **Passively Increase STR by 1%**

Ten level up windows then appeared in a fast rate.

 **Hyoudou Issei – Level 17**

 **The Gamer**

 **HP 130/200**

 **MP 200/200**

 **STR 10(3+)**

 **VIT 14(2+)**

 **DEX 7(7+)**

 **INT 10(4+)**

 **WIS 5(4+)**

 **LUC ?**

 **Points 75**

 **Money 15000**

…huh, that guy really was Op,and my point have increased..i'll save them for later. a message window then appeared in front of me and I pressed yes.

 **You managed to get past Level 15 huh? Brilliant. i think it's time to introduce you to the "Other side" but that won't be until later so don't worry, by the way if you get to level 20 a surprise will happen for you lat-uh Rin how did you get here…and what's with the-WAIT DON'T HIT ME WITH THA-.**

Annnd that was the end of the message, that was it really? Well okay better go home at least.

"After all **What's the worst that could happen** " I said resolute to myself, walking back to my house.

I didn't think that I would regret saying that until next week.

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A/N notes:Okay... if you could please put down your pitchforks, torches, and other deadly weapons that would be nice Kiba Fans and lovers. i did say there would be in fanfiction anything is possible. by the way guys i have some questions.

Question 1)what kind of character Issei should be? you know. type and class. for example a scifi gunslinger or a classic medieval knight or something else.i would like to hear some suggestions if possible.

Question 2)what kind of dialogue system i should use for Issei. example being Mass Effect or Dragon Age.

and finally,

Question 3)why are the reviews so small compared to the faves and follows you guys gratefully gave me,i'm just a newbie writer who needs help,so if you guys could add some suggestions to make this story better that would be great.

Well thats all,thanks for reading this chapter.

Fave, Follow, or Review, whichever comes first.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the series really. They all belong to each of their creators. Beta'ed by SeerKing.**

* * *

"I really had to go and say that, didn't I." I mused lightly as I looked at the scene before me. It was like something out of one of those medieval hack'n'slash games, to put it bluntly. I'll take you guys back to just a little while ago so you can understand my predicament here.

It was a Monday; I finished school and went back to my house. Dressed up in a red shirt with a black hoodie and dark blue jeans with black shoes, I went to the living room and decided to sit down on the couch, watching TV. I remembered I still had some points and looked up my status screen.

I decided to add 5 points to DEX and 10 to WIS since they were my weakest stats while I added 1 point to my VIT, which increased my health by 50. And hey, I managed to get mana regeneration from WIS but it was by only by 2%, which was really lame.

"Issei!" My mom called me from the kitchen, "Could you please get some vegetables from the store?"

A blue window appeared.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Mom's Errand**

 **Help your Mom make dinner by getting the ingredients.**

 **Completion Reward: 100 Exp.**

 **Yes/No?**

"That's weird." As I noticed that, unlike usual, the 'no' button was greyed out instead. Guess I can't refuse.

I accepted the quest and decided to go out to the convenience store. When I bought the ingredients, it was already dark that I had to take a shortcut towards a clearing near my house.

And it led me to my current situation. What was causing me so much headache, you ask?

Well, it's simple, really.

A fight was happening before me, the first participant was a beautiful girl with long, straight silver hair and light blue eyes, but that's not what was strange. What was strange was the fact she seems to be wearing some kind of battle attire, which was a set of…, Valkyrie armour? Anyway, it consisted of a white breastplate with gold and pale blue accents and matching, fingerless gauntlets, boots, hip guards, and wing-shaped hair clips. She also wears a black leotard underneath her breastplate, black thigh-high stockings, and a pale blue cloth wrap underneath her hip guards, all of which are clad with pink lacing along with her hair clips, wielding a sword, and currently hacking and slashing at her opponent.

Her opponent…was a giant ass motherfucking honest-to-god Minotaur, which was wielding a large battle-axe in one hand. Surrounding him were five green ugly goblins-like things. Wielding swords and some of them had shields, the largest one had a black sword and was wearing better armour, and the goblins were moving to surround her. I checked out their levels.

 **Minotaur - ?**

 **Hobgoblin Captain – Level 12**

 **Hobgoblin – Level 10**

 **Hobgoblin – Level 10**

 **Hobgoblin – Level 10**

 **Hobgoblin – Level 10**

Ah, so they were hobgoblins.

The Valkyrie was fighting them all of them with ease but was slowly being surrounded. When that happened, she would be overwhelmed.

…

WHAT THE FUCK WAS GOING ON, I thought this was supposed to be an easy quest! Why the hell couldn't I see the level of the Minotaur?! Was he so far above my level that I couldn't see it?

To answer my first question, a message window appeared and I quickly pressed yes.

 **Hohoho! I see you managed to get to the battle, huh? You're wondering what this is. Remember the message I gave you. I said I would introduce you to the other side; well here you go, enjoy! :3**

Damn you, Zelretch! If I find you I'm going to kill you myself. And don't you use that emoji with me dammit!

"Uh, hey." I noticed that the Valkyrie was looking at me. "Could you give me a hand here? I'm kind of stuck fighting this guy so if you could please remove the goblins that would be helpful."

Another window then appeared.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **The Valkyrie's Bounty**

 **Help the Valkyrie by taking care of the goblins!**

 **Completion reward: 500 exp.**

 **1000 money.**

 **Increase of reputation with Norse faction**

 **Yes/No**

So this was the introduction the bastard wanted me to have huh? Fine.

I pressed the yes button and decided to dual wield both the crowbar and bat.

I charged at the first hobgoblin I saw and without him noticing smacked my crowbar at his head granting a swift death to it, unfortunately it alarmed the others so they went to surround me instead.

Fantastic.

I dodged and weaved between their attacks, using [Sense Danger] to react faster, after defeating three of them the only one standing was the Leader. It seemed to be much smarter since it circled me instead looking for a weak point. After he sized me up he charged at me, quickly slamming his sword towards me before I defended with both of my weapons, the fight continued with me blocking and countering and it attacking and parrying, it ended with me winning obviously with a crowbar to the gut.

The Valkyrie also seemed to be done with her fight when she stabbed the Minotaur with her sword through its head.

 **A window appeared, as usual.**

 **Congratulations! Quest Complete!**

 **Completion reward: 500 exp.**

 **1000 money.**

 **Increased Reputation with Norse Faction.**

I didn't level up but I did manage to upgrade [Blunt Weapon Mastery] and [Dual-wield] by 2.

It also seemed to be that my STR increased as well by 2, neat.

"Thanks for helping me" She said as she went in front of me. "I'm Rossweisse by the way, nice to meet you." she smiled as she extended her hand towards me In a handshake.

"Issei, Issei Hyoudou" I greeted as shook her hand, haah so this was the feeling of a girl's smooth hand, I like it.

Take that Motohama and Matsuda! I touched a girl before you!

…actually that sounded really pitiful, damn it.

"Well it was nice meeting you Issei but I have to go." she said as she let goes of my hand.

I miss the feeling already.

"Oh alright" I said, hiding the disappointment in my tone. I then looked up at her status.

 **Rossweisse - ?**

 **Valkyrie of Odin**

 **A Valkyrie of the god Odin, Rossweisse is the bodyguard of Odin and a very serious person.**

 **Even though she is a smart and strong Valkyrie, much to her depression and bitterness she is known as the "Valkyrie who has never had a boyfriend" by her peers and Odin himself due to her serious attitude. She has a tendency to buy things at sales when they're cheap and is also highly susceptible to alcohol, and one drink from it can leave her drunk and vomiting for extended periods.**

 **What a clumsy Valkyrie, probably need's a boyfriend don't you think?**

No comment.

She then left me by transporting using some kind of magic circle under her feet.

Tired with all these bullshit I went home, completing the quest and decided to go to my room to sleep.

"I love you," I said to my pillow after I landed on the bed. "Ssshhh don't answer…I know."

Sleep finally embraced me. Ending this crazy day.

* * *

 **A/N Notes: now then if you excuse me I have to rest my hands. I'm still waiting for more answers to what Issei should be so please keep reviewing.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Notes; uh guys, I've got a little confession… I don't know what I'm doing.**

…

 **~But if you want, you can play along~ :3**

 **If you guys know the reference review it to me.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Beta'ed by SeerKing.**

* * *

I went to school as normal, greeting Matsuda and Motohama on the way. As we walked, we just talked about porn, eroge, oppai and other stuff as well. Obviously, this made some of the people near us disgusted and stay away from us.

"The Perverted Trio!"

"Eww. Stay away from them or they'll infect you with perverted stupidity!"

You know, just the usual hatred and disgust we had to go through.

However, I wasn't talking as usual because of last night; I thought to myself and was sure of three things.

-One, I had to get stronger, Fast.

-Two, I touched a girl for the first time.

-Three, Zelretch was an asshole of the highest order. That was for certain.

As I arrived at school, I got to class and started the day normally, basically it was a win-win situation for me since I've managed to level up my INT and [Intelligence] by 5.

After that I decided to secretly smuggle a bokken out from the Dojo the kendo team always used. Managing to get two new skills after I got it.

 **Stealth (Passive) – Level 1 – 0.0%**

 **Stealth is everything, from stealing candy from a baby to a silent takedown on a target.**

 **Avoid detection and snoop around to your heart's content, you crook.**

 **Sword Mastery (Passive) – Level 1 – 0.0%**

 **Allows user to freely carry and wield swords. 10% increase in attack damage with swords.**

Hehehe…with Stealth I can finally peek on the Kendo club without being noticed.

A-anyway after school, I went to the local park to train my sword mastery by bashing some trees increasing it until it was at level 5 and decided I was finished, putting it inside my inventory.

I decided to take a break at a bench near me, just sitting and taking in the scenery of the park, children playing around, family's having picnics, and the occasional ducks on the pond being feed by old grandmas.

"Nice view isn't it." An old voice happily said sitting next to my right side.

"Yeah, I guess" I said as I turned around to see the person.

An old man probably at his 50's but still in his prime, a smiling face wrinkled with age and excitement covered by a full beard, White short hair and red eyes. He wore a suit with a black shoulder cape attached to it.

"I'm Zelretch by the way." He smiled at me as he held out his hand.

"Issei, nice to meet you" I greeted back as I shook his hand.

After that, we just sat there looking at the scenery.

…wait a minute.

…

PFFFT!

"Hey what's wrong, you look like a goldfish right now." He asks me worried as I gaped at him.

"You!" I said as I stood up and pointed my finger at him.

"Me?" He pointed at himself confused.

"Yes you, you bastard!" I said as I grabbed him by his shirt, "You're the guy who gave me this ability."

"Ah!" he finally realized as he puts his right hand inside his left palm." I forgot about you, hehehe sorry about that." He chuckled.

Like hell you did! I gritted my teeth in frustration.

"Anyway, I have to ask you something." I said as I let go of his shirt.

"Why did you give me this ability, why me, and why do I have such an asshole of an H.U.D!"

"Well to answer your questions." he said as I calmed down, "For the first one, I gave you this ability because you're special Issei, yes I could have chosen someone better, stronger and faster." He said with a serious expression as I hung my head down, ashamed.

"But." his expression turned friendly, "you had something they don't have, that no one else has." he said as he put his left hand on my right shoulder, "and that was your simple, honest, and kind heart." He smiled as he said this.

"S-Seriously." I said as I raised my head shocked. I was only met with disgust from everyone around me. This was practically the first time I felt such honesty and kindness from a person who wasn't my parents or friends.

"Yes, seriously, I know you won't fall into temptation." He smiled like what a grandfather would do to his grandchild.

Wow t-this guy was…

"And for your second question." He poked at my chest. "There is something inside you, just slumbering inside ready to release, and I would like to see you gain that potential."

Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.

"Annnd the fact I want to see you knock down some people whose ass is stuck with a large iron pole while I watch with some popcorn." He grinned.

And there goes my respect.

"As for your third one." He gained a thoughtful expression while he grabbed his chin with his left hand. "For some reason it was capable of becoming a Sentient but it's mostly harmless, Right Bob?"

We both heard a voice.

 **You got that right old man.**

"Wait, you can talk!" I said astonished.

 **Of course I can talk, After all the old guy here created two sentient magical girl sticks, which are capable of pure mass destruction, so I'm practically sentient too.**

"Wait a minute you did what." I questioned Zelretch as he shrugged.

"*Sigh*never mind." as I massaged my forehead with my hand. If this continues, I think I would need to go to a therapist.

"By the way why are you here?" I asked Zelretch.

"Oh yeah I forgot to give you this" He said as he gave me a…, watch?

It was black with some kind of monitor on the screen, showing me some kind of game menu.

 **Status**

 **Skills**

 **Inventory**

 **Quests**

 **Abyss Auction**

 **Hollow Area**

"Since I don't want you to look crazy talking to yourself I made you that watch so that you can keep track of your progress." He simply said with a shrug.

"What's the [Hollow Area] and the [Abyss Auction]?" I asked him.

"Oh, those two. Hollow Area is where you kill enemies for exp and money, but I recommend you get some experience and master your skills first before you try that place. The enemies there are hard to kill." He said pointing to the [Hollow Area] app.

"And for Abyss Auction, Its where other humans who knows about the supernatural buy stuff. It's a secret to the other beings since this is the only way for humans to get the upper hand on them."

"Okay, thanks I guess." I thanked him.

"No problem" he said with a smile, getting up to leave. Before he could walk away though, I remembered that I forgot to ask him something.

"Wait." I stopped Zelretch with a raised hand.

"Hmm?" he looked at me.

"I have to ask before you leave, why is my LUC stat a question mark?" I asked him.

"Well there are two reasons but I can't tell you the first since that would be spoiling, but I can tell you the second. Here come closer." He gestured me to get in front of him.

I just followed and we were now standing in front of each other.

"The second reason..." He said before continuing with a grin."…is because you are both loved and hated by some Goddesses from every faction. Some of them favour you, while other's hate you. A blessing and a curse at once, wouldn't you say?"

"…Wait what?" I said with a dumbfounded expression.

"Well that's it, Ciao!" He said with a small wave of his hand.

"Hey just wait a moment!" I managed to say before a bright light blinded me and I had to shield my eyes from it.

After it was done, I opened my eyes and he was gone.

Dammit, that was it. I was hoping for more answers but at least I got something.

As I walked back home, I thought about what he said, the reason my luck was shitty sometimes was because of Goddesses? Okay he was just yanking my chain, hahaha yeah that was probably it. After all, I was just a normal perverted idiot. I can't even get a girlfriend.

 **At least you know, dude.**

Shut up, Bob!

* * *

 **A/N Notes: Thanks you guys and gals for reading this. Now then, here are some questions for you people.**

 **Question 1.) What kind of weapon should Issei wield?**

 **Question 2.) What should be Issei's familiar?**

 **And Question 3.) Who should be Issei's wingman?**

 **Also the class and type Issei should be Is still undecided, please review your answer.**

 **See you guys later.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Notes: …huh, most of you guys don't get the reference, never heard of Sam Tsui?**

 **Never mind enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just own this Fic.**

* * *

"Well I guess this is it, I taught you everything you should know about this place, are you sure you want to do this kid?" My now former boss asked me.

"Yeah, I do." I said firmly.

"Very well, so long Issei."

"Thanks boss."

"I'm not your boss anymore Issei, anyway good luck."

He then went away with his belongings waving at me goodbye until he was gone, leaving me in front of my new café.

You heard me.

Yes, I, Issei Hyoudou am now the proud owner of a café.

I should probably explain this.

You see after a week of being alone in my room, I thought about things, you know what average teenage perverts think about. And I've just now realized something.

With how much money I have people will get suspicious, theorizing, and making bad rumours about me…well, more bad rumours than usual anyway, so I knew I had to get a job.

And the fact I just realized my only job was being a grinder doesn't help at all.

Oh yeah, I also levelled up WIS and INT by 3 for thinking, how awesome is that.

So I told my parents and…well they were eccentric about it, actually I think they were crying tears of joy.

I'm not that bad, right…right?

 **Uuuh, maybe?**

Gee, thanks Bob.

…That was sarcasm by the way.

So I took several part-time jobs along the way, Cook, Dishwasher, Mailman, Carpenter, Blacksmith and more.

Don't ask me about Blacksmith, for some reason there's a shop, which sells weapons, but they're not real though some of them are, shame though.

And I managed to get some skills by the way.

 **Cooking (Passive) – Level 3 – 50.0%**

 **The practice or skill of preparing food by combining, mixing, and heating ingredients.**

It's not that good but whatever.

 **Carpentry (Passive) – Level 5 – 0.0%**

 **The activity or occupation of making or repairing things in wood.**

I can build stuff now that's for sure.

 **Dishwashing (Passive) – Level 10 - 0.8%**

 **A technique to wash dishes. With greater mastery, you can clean any dirty spot. 10% increase in dishwashing speed.**

…I really don't know with these one, I had to clean many dishes okay.

 **Blacksmithing (Passive) – Level 4 – 1.0%**

 **The action of creating objects from wrought iron or steel forging metal.**

Hmm, I could probably go Archer on this one…nah; too much spamming swords could probably get me a visit from Alaya that's for sure.

 **Coffee-Making (Passive) – Level 8 – 10.0%**

 **The process of brewing coffee. With great mastery, can you brew the perfect cup of coffee?**

This was from my job at the café. The boss decided to give me the place, which leads me to my current situation. I was wearing a plain red shirt with blue jeans and red sneakers, a black apron at my waist.

By the way, I should describe the place inside.

Well it's like any average small café, warm, comforting, and Wifi.

Lots and lots of Wifi.

 **I love it here.**

Me too Bob. Me too.

I walked into the coffee shop to see red walls and chestnut brown tables throughout the small area. The scent of vanilla in the air. There was also the welcome scent of coffee wafting through the air, calling to my weary legs to come take a rest. I took my stand at the counter, greeting the customers who come here every afternoon just to take a break every now and then.

Businessmen, Old ladies, middle-school kids (why was there a blue-haired girl wearing an eyepatch, swinging her umbrella every now and then with a brown-haired guy trying to stop her?), even children come here.

Oh yeah the name of this place is Mad Cat Café, why is it named like that you ask?

Cats visited the cafe often, well not inside, but you get the idea.

The strangest thing was that cats seemed to like my former boss. What was his name again? His first name had a L and his last name had a K. I think he had a middle name as well.

…Probably not important.

There was also one of the cats inside that it was practically the mascot of the place, it sat at the right side of the counter, just near the cashier.

A white, obese cat with large, green eyes and gray accents on his face, ears, tail, and three of his feet, his upper-right paw was white.

I decided to name him Rollo, Poor cat, whoever fed him must have not taken account to his weight. I also looked at his level.

 **Rollo – Level 4**

He didn't have a title, which was no surprise since he was just a cat. He was also pretty smart by the way.

"Where are you going, Rollo?" I asked when I noticed him moving towards the door, when he came back, I saw his new companion.

"Oooh, I see; you have a new gi-" I was about to tease him for having a girlfriend before I choked on my own spit when I saw what it was.

A black cat, probably female, sauntered through with amber eyes.

But it was its level and what it was which surprised me.

 **Kuroka – Level ?**

 **The Black Nekoshō**

 **Kuroka is an extremely talented Nekoshō and currently an SS-class Stray Devil on the run.**

 **She killed her former master who tried to hurt her little sister, Shirone, but was later presumed to have been drunk on her powers by other Devils, following the incident, she became one of the Underworld's most wanted criminals, she also wants to "procreate" with this generations Sekiryūtei.**

Okay…you have an all-powerful devil in your café…I feel bad for her but that way lies into madness…just ignore her and you'll be safe.

And thank god I'm not this Sekiryūtei guy or whatever the hell he is.

 **Hehehe…yeah…sure.**

…why do I feel the odd sensation of Déjà vu all of a sudden?

Anyway after her and Rollo spent some time together (I think Rollo knew what she was but I think I was just being superstitious.), she left.

I closed the café and went back to my house.

"Ah, hi Issei how was school today." My mom greeted me when I went pass the living room, seeing her watching TV with Dad.

"Tiring, and by the way I'm the owner of a café now." I said to her as I went to my room, after closing it I heard shouts of joy from both of my parents.

I'm…I'm really that bad?

* * *

 **New questions for you guys.**

 **Question 1.) How many of you guys think Saji could be Issei's wingman and straight man? Cause seriously this guy is the counterpart of Issei when he is in the Occult Research Club, and he doesn't have that much love so i say we give these guy a chance. besides none of us know HOW he got to be inside Sona's Peerage so basically it's possible for him to stay human.**

 **Question 2.) What do you think of Rollo being there.**

 **Question 3.) what do you guys think of Yumi pairing up with Tsubaki?**

 **That's it and I'll see you all later.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Guess who doesn't own anything, this guy right here, Beta'ed by SeerKing.**

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up! I-If you don't wake up I'm going to… k-kiss you!"

I woke up from bed and turned off the alarm, man yesterday was tiring. Thank god that it's Saturday. I don't think I could put up with the same shit as yesterday and school at the same time.

Now that I think about it, I haven't seen my status window for a long time, I should check on it.

When I touched the status app on my watch, a window appeared.

 **Issei Hyoudou – Level 17**

 **The Gamer**

 **HP: 450/450**

 **MP 250/250**

 **MP: Regen 4 (4 MP) per minute**

 **STR: 20 (3+)**

 **VIT: 49 (2+)**

 **DEX: 29 (7+)**

 **INT: 15 (4+)**

 **WIS: 12 (4+)**

 **LUC: 12**

 **Points: 60**

 **Money: 15421**

How the hell…okay, I know I did all those jobs but they can't possibly be this big without me noticing…could they?

And my LUC stat was a question mark, why does it have a number now?

 **Actually, they are that big, you just haven't noticed the windows appearing from time to time when you were busy with all those jobs.**

R-Really? Damn I'm on a roll here; thank god I took those jobs!

Wait, that doesn't explain the LUC stat.

 **Oh yeah, about that. Zelretch decided to fix that stat and set it so that the influence of the other beings that either love or hate you doesn't affect it anymore.**

Oh, well that was nice of him to do that.

Hmm, I still have some points, should I put them all in to INT? I could get much bigger MP but with WIS, I could get regenerate my MP faster.

I thought for a while and decided I should put all of them into INT. Besides, I could finally get better at schoolwork at the very least! I put all of my points into INT. I don't know why but…I had the strangest feeling something bad was about to happen.

 **Issei Hyoudou – Level 17**

 **The Gamer**

 **HP: 450/450**

 **MP: 1499/1499**

 **MP Regen: 4 (4 MP) per minute**

 **STR: 20 (3+)**

 **VIT: 49 (2+)**

 **DEX: 29 (7+)**

 **INT: 75 (4+)**

 **WIS: 12 (4+)**

 **LUC: 12**

 **Points: 0**

 **Money: 15421**

A window then appeared in front of me.

 **By increasing you're INT past Level 50, you have gained a new skill.**

 **Mana Affinity (Passive) – Max**

 **A technique that allows the user to become more sensitive to mana and handle it better.**

 **10% increase in MP recovery rate.**

 **5% increase in total MP amount.**

 **5% increase in magic attack.**

 **5% increase in magic defence.**

 **30% increase in MP related skill effects.**

Does that mean…

I held my left hand out and tried to imagine something appearing, apparently that was correct cause on my hand appeared a blue light. That is so cool!

Can I transfer it? I tried to transfer it to my right and it worked, I then juggled it with my hands. With this skill, I can finally protect myself.

I should try working out; the café doesn't open until afternoon so it should be okay.

* * *

Wearing a red shirt with an open black hoodie, dark blue jeans and white-with-red sneakers, I went out of the house, and planned on how I was going to work out, but when I passed near the street going to the park, I felt shivers across my body.

What was that?

A window then appeared.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Chill in the Air**

 **Find out what's making all this bloodlust.**

 **Completion Reward: ? Exp**

 **? Money**

 **Completion Failure: Death**

 **Yes/No**

D-Death?! Wha-what the hell does that mean, does that mean I'm going to…die? I felt sweat appear as my skin began to pale, Okay, calm down Issei, i-it's probably joking.

Probably.

I then notice the greyed out 'No' button. Shit, does that mean I can't refuse?

Sometimes it seriously isn't worth getting out of bed.

I pressed yes, and decided to check it out. As I drew closer to the source of the bloodlust, I was damn terrified. The nearer I was, the more scared I began to feel, what was in there!?

 **By detecting large amounts of bloodlust, you have created a new skill.**

 **Detect Bloodlust (Passive) – Level 1 – 0.0%**

 **A skill that detects any bloodlust directed at the user. It is an instinctive skill.**

 **Detects bloodlust within thirty meters of the targets location. It also alerts the user of the location.**

 **Detect Bloodlust has increased by one.**

Not helping Bob. Seriously, why only now am I developing this skill?!

 **Hey, it's my job, by the way, you should probably save the girl.**

Huh? Girl?

"AAAAH!"

I heard someone scream, there was a person here!? I ran until I was inside the park.

I saw a girl, probably at my age, lying on the floor. She was wearing some light armour and near her arms were a sword and a white shield. Whoever she was, she was completely knocked out, with a trickle of blood running down one side of her face.

What I saw was the reason of the bloodlust standing over her, and I wished I hadn't seen it.

'It', just so you know, looked like the mix of a yeti and the abominable snowman. Its fur was white and it had blue tattoos all over its chest. On its head was a bunch of large antlers.

 **Wendigo – Level 45**

Wendigo? The hell? That's Canadian! What the hell is one of these things doing in Japan!? More to the point, how?! Same with that Norse Valkyrie, come to think of it. She had vanished using a magic circle. Could this thing use magic like that?

 **"Hmm?"** the giant monster noticed me standing gaping at him like a dumbass.

'Oh shit he saw me!' was looping through my mind as I wondered what the hell to do here.

 **"Oh great, more humans, you guys are like damn cockroaches! Kill one and another takes its place! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"** He said before roaring.

Oh god. I have to run, but I can't leave this girl here! Dammit, why do I have to be the guy who saves the day? I don't wear an 'S' on my chest!

I absently promised to whatever deity was watching over me (if it was one that liked me) that I would pound Zelretch into the ground for not giving me a magic weapon or something. Excalibur would be real useful right about now!

I equipped both the crowbar and bat and took a combat stance, whereupon I thought of an idea. I began filling my weapons with mana making it stronger and denser, bursting to life with a blue glow.

 **Congratulations! Through a special action, you have gained a new skill!**

 **Mana Burst – Level 1 – 0.0%**

 **The action of increasing performance caused by infusing one's weapons and body with magical energy and instantly expelling it. Simply put, recreating the effect of a jet burst by expending large amounts of mana.**

"RAAAH" The Wendigo came charging at me with a mighty roar, hurting my ears with how loud he was. I dodged the attack by rolling out of his reach. He took down a tree instead, making it fall down in splinters. Thank god I dodged or that would have been me!

Okay, ready yourself Issei. This time you have to be on the offensive. This guy isn't like the Kendo Club girls chasing you around for peeping on them. You can't win without launching a counter-attack.

I then began strategizing and thought of something too fucking crazy that it might actually work. I filled my legs with mana until it looked like they were ready to explode, before taking a huge leap at the monster's turned back.

The very instant I was within striking range, I swung down both my weapons with great force and a desperate shout. I wasn't sure, but in some games, striking the unguarded rear of an enemy dealt extra damage and raised the chance of critical hits, so hopefully…

"Haaah!" I was fast…

…but I wasn't fast enough, because he suddenly whipped around and grabbed my weapons, leaving me dangling in the air. Seriously, he had moved so fast I almost saw an afterimage!

Oh no.

 **"You call that speed? I could move faster with one leg!"** He said mockingly before whipping me around like a streamer, making me let go of my weapons and throwing me at least ten meters away. Rolling as I landed, it took what felt like forever until I was lying on my back, the concrete of the park's pathway feeling very hard at this point.

God dammit, every bone in my body hurts. Thankfully, I had the Gamer's Body, otherwise I think I would have at least broken a couple of ribs there. And ruptured my spleen.

When I managed to force myself into a sitting position, I saw him snapping my weapons in half as if they were made of balsa wood. Shit on a stick! The only thing I had left was my bokken, but it's made of wood, and this guy just snapped solid steel in half like it was nothing!

Wait…Mana Burst, of course! I shakily stood up, almost falling over from the pain, and then focused my mana on both my arms and legs and took a defensive stance. Yes, I let him determine who attacks first, but it allowed me the time to plan how to take him out while he was acting it out.

 **"I see you still have a little fight within ya. You've got guts, I'll give ya that, but it's time for you to die, pest!"** He said before he roared again. Geez, my ears are sore from him doing that all the time!

 **"GROOOOAWR"** He then came charging right at me.

Alright this is it, steady…

He was coming closer.

Steady…

Getting closer.

Don't fail me now Typemoon…

He was now just in front of me. As if in slow motion, I was able to see him raise his right hand at me, ready to make me a pancake on the ground. It was all or nothing here.

…Now!

I then punched him in the chest, using my left hand that was bursting with mana. When my average human fist met the monster's ripped Wendigo flesh, I felt the bones in my left arm breaking and twisting into a bloody mess. I'm gonna feel that one in the morning. And possibly the next few days after that.

As to how it felt? Let's just say 'OW' doesn't even begin to cover how much pain I was in, and leave it at that.

When he tried to smash me with his right hand again, I ducked and saw his right hand smashing the ground making cracks on it. Yikes! What did it take to put this guy down?! He had more lives than Heracles from Fate/Stay Night! Did he have the Godhand Noble Phantasm or something?!

I spun around until I was at his back, feeling the nerves in my body breaking and my bones snapping from the pressure and adrenaline it was taking. I didn't know how much more of this I could take!

I used my right elbow to deal the finishing blow to his back, making him stumble and fall to his knees. I backed of slightly, panting heavily, both from my exertion and from the searing pain in my battered, bruised and bleeding hand. All that mattered was one thing…

…did I do it?

I waited for a moment…and then heard laughter.

 **"Heh…hehehe….hehehe…HAHAHAHA!"** I heard him laughing in great amusement before I saw him put his arms against the floor getting up, shit he's not dead yet!? He made a bloody battle tank look wimpy by comparison!

 **"You think you've won? I'M THE MIGHTY WENDIGO, HUMAN TRASH! YOUR ATTACKS WON'T TAKE ME DOWN THAT EASILY, IF AT ALL!"** He shouted before he swiped at me again, forcing me back before he tried again with his other hand.

Shit, I'm done for; I can't take this guy on…but…

I looked at the person on the floor. I can't just leave this girl behind.

I realized now…that I am the craziest son of a bitch alive. Keifka, eat your heart out!

"Hey you! The Yeti-knock off! Get back to the reject bin!" I taunted him.

 **Seriously, that was an insult? (~_~;)**

I didn't have anything okay?! You try coming up with witty repartee in the middle of a fight to the death, see how well you do!

The Wendigo then charged at me with yet another roar. I tried to put both of my hands up, but one of them was useless. Shit! I might die, but I can't lose!

With a roar of my own, I charge right at the oversized mattress with my one good arm cocked back and ready to strike. If I was going down, I was going down swinging!

"RAAAAAAH!"

* * *

 **(Five Hours Later)**

"Haa…haa…I did it!" I said in relief.

I was sitting with my back to a tree, looking at the bloody figure of the thing that tried to attack me. It was now just lying there dead, with a hole in its chest when I managed to pierce its body with my bokken which is now broken.

That had been close…way too close. OK, add 'find powerful magical weapon of some sort' to my to-do list. What now…ah.

I looked at my status.

 **HP 1/450**

 **MP 0/1499**

Just one more hit and I would have been dead. Ha-ha…I survived. Barely, but still.

I took a look at my body and grimaced. My body was a mess and was bloody as hell, most of my bones were broken and one of my legs was gone, I was now just staring at my left arm.

Well, where it used to be anyway, 'cause it was now just a stump. How the fuck am I going to explain this to my parents?! Seriously, they accepted ripped uniforms and the occasional bruise because I get beaten up for being a pervert, but this? Hell no!

 **Well Issei, I got to "hand" it to you, you managed to beat him.**

No…Bob…just, fuck no.

 **Tough crowd.**

You try being disarmed, literally, and see how funny YOU find the damn situation!

A window appeared before me.

 **Congratulations! Quest Complete**

Okay now you're just taunting me.

 **Completion Reward: ? Exp**

 **? Money**

I didn't know how many, but windows appeared at a fast rate.

 **Issei Hyoudou – Level 30**

 **The Gamer**

 **HP: 1200/1200**

 **MP: 1499/1499**

 **MP Regen: 4 (4 MP) per minute**

 **STR: 60 (3+)**

 **VIT: 100 (2+)**

 **DEX: 40 (7+)**

 **INT: 75 (4+)**

 **WIS: 15 (4+)**

 **LUC: 12**

 **Points: 50**

 **Money: 114210**

I took notice of my skill window showing me that I levelled up my skills but I was too tired to give a fuck to see them. Hell, if it weren't for the Gamer's Body, I'd have bled to death by now!

Nevertheless, one window appeared that got my attention.

 **You have reached the required level.**

 **The special conditions "Strategist", "Demon Killer", and "****Dragon****" have been met.**

 **Would you like to rank up?**

 **Yes/No**

…Well, what else do I have to lose…besides my other arm and leg? I clicked the 'Yes' button.

Pain then immediately surged through my body, making me writhe in pain, I gritted my teeth. It felt like I was being electrocuted!

What was happening to me?! I then began to scream out in pain and agony when I felt my bones snapping back to place, nerves regenerating, and I saw the stumps on my body glow with red light. I felt a lot of things actually, not at all pleasant ones either.

My mind was blank, I felt my skull was about to split open, my brain feels like it was going to blow up, my skin felt like it was going to burn right off. Every blood cell in my body felt like it was on fire, the sheer, raw power flowing through my body felt like it was going to tear me up before I can use it.

So yeah, that was pretty much my situation summed up.

 **[So, you're my new host, huh?]** I heard a voice speaking to me. Wha…who the hell was this?!

 **[I look forward to working with you…partner.]** The voice chuckled, sounding something like amused, before falling silent again.

After the pain in my body subsided, I felt…changed. As if I could do anything.

I looked at my body, i-it was fine, everything was in place as if I had never been in a fight with a yeti-reject! When I unbuttoned my shirt and took a look, there was no wound at all! But somehow there were black tribal tattoos snaking across my body! Not only that, it looking fit and muscular, I have a six-pack now!

But that's not the strangest thing, funnily enough.

My left arm…looked draconic, almost as if it was demon's arm. It was red and scaly, and my fingernails were red and looked much sharper. On the back of my hand was a green glowing gem that looked like it was inside my hand now I look a bit closer.

I reached up with my non-transformed hand and felt across the rest of my body. When I touched my teeth, I felt a distinctly fang-like shape to them, leading me to believe they had become fangs.

I don't look like my old self but at least I looked badass. Still, I couldn't go around looking like a…whatever the hell I was now, so I sat and thought for a moment, absently noting that my leg had regenerated as well.

"Hmm, maybe I could will the arm away." I said out loud. I tried it, instinctively focusing on drawing power out of the arm, and it just went back to looking like my old arm.

That was convenient, but I should start wearing bandages on my arms and body, 'cause I could get in trouble for the tattoos that I now have, and I especially don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about me.

I'm a pervert, not a delinquent. Gotta have some standards, after all.

I noticed the girl was still on the floor, unconscious, and decided to pick her up but not without picking up her weapons first.

The sword itself is a simple one-handed sword with a blue handle and a golden cross-guard, and the shield was a white heater shield with a gold trim, and it was embossed with the symbol of two arcs coloured in gold in the centre.

And you know what was awesome? When I clicked a button on the handle of the shield, it collapsed into a white sheath with gold trimmings. Damn. Where'd this girl get this? I'll have to ask her once she comes around.

So I sheathed the sword and slid them through my belt, and picked up the girl bridal-style.

…Don't look at me like that, I couldn't exactly get her into a piggyback or fireman style. Besides, it was good practice for when I finally get a girlfriend!

I decided to go to the café because I couldn't exactly bring her to my house where my parent's would freak out. Besides of which, there was a First Aid kit behind the counter.

OK, note to self: develop some kind of healing skill. There had to be something like that in all the many and varied skills I could develop! If I could have a skill to wash dishes, surely I could heal or regenerate or something.

I tried to ignore the stares of everyone I walk by, murmuring and looking at me as I walked.

Yes, I know I made a strange sight with my tattered clothes and the girl I was carrying but come on people! A bit of tact?

…yes, rich coming from me, but there you go.

Oh yeah. For the sake of convenience I will tell you what she looked like as I endured the gossiping housewives' stares along the way.

Her face was femininely smooth, cute I would say, with freckles on her nose, which even added the charm, and her hair was another attention catching detail. Blonde long hair with the right bang reaching past her shoulders, while the left barely reached her cheek, and both sides had spiked ends. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the length varied, bits of her hair reaching a few inches shorter, and alternating with the original length.

She was wearing a white cuirass and spaulders. Under the armour, she was wearing a black hoodie with reddish-orange sleeves and on her hands were brown wrist-length gloves with exposed fingertips and a small metal plate on the back, a black battle skirt that starts at the waist and reaches mid-thigh with two belts crisscrossing her waist, both different shades of brown, with a pair of small pouches on them. Her shoes were black sneakers with an arc symbol on the soles.

So yeah that was pretty much it.

She then started to snuggle more into my chest, purring, making me blush lightly.

Okay this girl can't possibly be this cute!

…shit did I reference Oreimo, I need to stop watching too much anime.

When I went inside the café, she started to stir, signalling that she was waking up.

She opened her eyes, which I could say was a light blue, and woke up to the sight of me. We stared at each other for a moment before I decided to break the ice.

"Uh hey" I greeted her feeling a sweatdrop coming from my head at her stare.

…

She then blinked once, then twice, then finally three times. With half-lidded eyes, she took a look at her surroundings, finishing with a final look at me.

"Ah…" she said then widened her eyes with her mouth opening and closing, a blush fully forming on her face until I thought she was a tomato.

"Ky-" she stuttered.

"Ky-?" I said confused.

"KYAAAAAA!"

SLAP!

"OWW!" Why me…?

 **Ha-ha…dude just got bitchslapped!**

And that was how I met Janne Arc, my new ally and waitress.

* * *

 **So yeah Issei now has a new ally, unlocks the Boosted Gear as his new arm and literally became stronger than before.**

 **Here are the questions of the day.**

 **1.) What should Issei wear as a combat uniform?**

 **2.) Should I add a mage type?**

 **3.) What kind of girl should Janne be? (Please for the love of god don't choose Yandere.)**

 **That's it. Later dudes.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N notes: For those of you who reviewed as a Guest, please don't do that as it's confusing as hell.**

 **Disclaimer: You know the drill people, I don't own anything.**

* * *

"So you're telling me that you ran away from home to train your skills so you could live up to your family name?" I asked the girl sitting across me, nursing my left cheek with my hand as I stared at her. I had changed into a red shirt and blue jeans since my original clothes were tattered from fighting the Wendigo.

After I managed to stop her from hitting me and bandaged her head, we were now just sitting in a table inside the café; the sign now says "Closed" on the front door since I couldn't exactly open my café with an injured girl with me.

I can still hear Bob laughing his ass off, asshole.

"Y-yes, thanks for helping me." She said with a kind of awkward smile.

Well people it would take a long time to explain this so I'll just give you a summary.

Janne here is from a long line of warriors who hunt monsters and the creatures of the day and night to protect the people. One of her ancestors being Jeanne d'Arc.

Ironically, she had a sister of the same name who is currently missing. Did you know she had seven sisters with her being the youngest? Weird.

Anyway back on track she was the weakest and couldn't help her family, feeling inadequate and wanted to live up to her name, she snuck out one day and has been training ever since, killing monsters and taking rests every once in a while.

Talk about determination.

I even looked at her status.

 **Janne Arc – Level 15**

 **Knight of Arc**

I already told you her back-story so no game profile for you this time.

"So I have to ask you this, Janne." I said firmly.

"Hmm?"

"Do you have a place to rest or something?"

"Umm…no." she said while having a sad face.

*Sigh* I know my parents would kill me for this… or they would be overjoyed with the fact I brought a girl home, whichever comes first.

 **Judging by your reputation, the second one is extremely likely.**

"Well you could come home with me." I said before I realized the meaning of the words I said, "N-not in a bad or suspicious way of course, my house has a guest room you could use so it's not like I was insinuating something bad or anything."

"Really, you would do that for me." She asked surprised.

"Yeah I guess but you don't have a job right? I need a waitress for the café since I can't do this alone so if you're willing to-"I was cut off before I could finish.

"YES!" Janne shouted with a smiling face before she realized what did, with her face in a light blush looking to the side while twirling her fingers.

"I mean yes…if you don't mind." Now looking at me nervously.

 **If this were a romantic comedy harem anime, she would probably be the bubbly, cheerful and outgoing girl who has feelings for you with you not realizing it.**

Yeah, and I'd be the smart, apathetic, isolated, and friendless Loner who has no choice but to play the bad guy every once in a while to complete a request while trading blows with a beautiful, blunt, popular, and flat-chested Ice Queen.

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK THIS IS, OREGAIRU!?

 **Nah, I would probably say you were the guy from Noucome. That OVA was crazy as fuck.**

Fuck you man.

 **Statement: And fuck you too, meatbag.**

Okay what's with the H-K 47 reference?

 **Want me to do a Glados or a Wheatley instead?**

Hell no.

*Sigh* Never mind. I probably should give an answer to her now.

"No I don't mind at all."

"Thank you so much!" She said while giving me a hug.

…Okay this might sound creepy for you guys, but I can feel her "Assets" on my chest.

Issei – 3, Motohama and Matsuda - 0.

I'm just that lonely guys.

"Well we should probably start over from the top, I'm Issei Hyoudou."

"Well the name's Janne Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, people love it."

"Do they?" I asked curiously.

"Umm, well my family does…do you?" she asked back, the look in her eyes practically begging me to say 'Yes'.

"I love it." Was my obvious reply.

She then gave me a charming smile with a blush.

 **The wonders of a dense harem protagonist people, Practically Ichika-dense with Yamato Naoe's charm and perverseness don't you think.**

Uuh…what are you talking about Bob?

 **Statement: None of your business meatbag.**

And you need to stop playing so much Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

 **NEEEVEEEER!**

…You don't have to be so dramatic about it.

 **And you don't have to be a dick about it, Oooh Burn bitch.**

Out of all the AI's I could get, why did I get this asshole?

* * *

Bob was right, apparently they were overjoyed with the fact I brought a girl home. Crying and the whole works.

Wow, now I just feel pathetic. Mom even said, 'I thought he would die alone!'

Way to clarify that my existence as a pervert condemns me to a life of solitude.

Thanks, Kaa-san.

For the past few weeks, I taught Janne the basics of table serving and cleaning, and she pretty much took to it like a sponge. She did make a few mistakes here and there, but she was doing pretty fine, the customer's loved her.

I also had to kick out a few guys who were trying to get "touchy-feely" with her.

Perverts.

…well that was hypocritical of me. Fucking sue me.

I was just sitting on a chair behind the counter, the café was empty and Janne already left for my house since her shift was over, when I suddenly thought of something.

"Hey Bob."

 **Yeah dude?**

"Who was that voice I heard speaking to me when I ranked up?"

 **Oh, him. Well remember when Zelretch said there was a reason for your luck, that guy was the first reason.**

By the way who was he anyway?

 **He's Ddraig, the one who is sealed in your Sacred Gear and is currently your arm since you lost your old one.**

Wait, what's a sacred gear?

 **Sacred Gears, also known as God's Artefacts, are items with powerful abilities bestowed upon humans by God from the Bible. You're one of the lucky ones dude.**

How so?

 **Your Sacred Gear is called the [Boosted Gear], also known as the [Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet], It is one of the Thirteen Longinus, which are capable of killing gods. This one boosts your power every ten seconds. But, since it's a part of your body now, you are able to turn any of your body parts into a dragon, normally if you boost too much, your body couldn't take it and you would pass out from exhaustion but, since you have Gamer's Body, you won't pass out from exhaustion, you can just keep on boosting whenever you like.**

Seriously?! Damn I'm more OP than I thought I was with Gamer's Body.

Do I get a title or something?

 **Yeah you actually do, it's Crimson Dragon Emperor or as what everyone knows as, Sekiryūtei.**

"Oh I see, I'm known as S-" I was going to say before I cut off myself, realizing something.

If I was the Sekiryūtei…Oh god.

 **Yep…you're getting laid. Congrats.**

Well that was a nice thought but… I would like to get to know a girl first, you know like go out on a date or something. I don't want to immediately have sex with a girl!

 **Wow, even though you're a pervert you're like one of those nice guys who like watching cheesy flicks on TV, I bet you eat from a tub of chocolate ice cream as well.**

Yeah, yeah I know I'm a sap, and it's not chocolate its strawberry!

By the way, why isn't he talking to me?

 **Oh. About that…**

I then heard a voice.

 **[Dammit Shadow Bonnie! I swear to god if you jumpscare me one more ti-]**

 **SCREEECH!**

 **[AAAAAAAH!]**

… **He's playing Five Nights at Freddy's 3.**

Oh…Guess I shouldn't keep him busy. I should know, I can't even get through Night 3 without shadow BB attacking me. (A/N: True story guys. It's just so hard.)

Wait a minute how are you guys playing games when you're in my mind?

 **I don't know. Do you Ddraig?**

 **[Not now Bob, I'm trying to reset my- Oh god Springtrap is missing! Where, wher-]**

 **SCREEEEECH!**

 **[AAAAAAAH, I HATE THIS FUCKING GAME!]**

…Okay, ignoring that for now. I should probably get something from Abyss Auction since I now have a lot of money.

I opened the Abyss Auction app on my watch and it showed me the contents.

 **Welcome to the Abyss Auction!**

 **Weapons**

 **Armour**

 **Items**

 **Slaves**

 **Accessories**

S-Slaves?! What the hell is wrong with this app, are you telling me there were actual slaves being sold off?

I was so angry that I didn't notice I was breaking the counter, which was made of steel. Damn, I need to limit my strength so this doesn't happen in public.

Okay calm down Issei.

I decided to push the weapons tab, scrolling around until I saw a weapon that got my attention.

 **Yukimaru – 1000**

Hmm, well what do you know, the price was reasonable. I decided to buy it. After that, I went looking at the Item section, I can tell you this it had everything that a person needed, and I bought a few things as well.

 **HP Potion – 100**

 **MP Potion – 100**

 **Phoenix tears – 300**

In addition, I bought a skill book as well.

 **Battle Healing – 1000**

I swear to god if this was the same one from SAO, I would pass out from pure satisfaction. Next time I fought a damn monster built like The Hulk, I'd have some kind of Regen ability!

When I pressed the buy button to finish the deal, I decided to make coffee, but before I could even start, I heard a knock.

It was that fast?

When I turned around and saw what was knocking on the glass door my jaw slacked.

An actual small-sized UFO was there carrying a package.

I swear to god if Hayato Gokudera was here. He would fanboy the hell out of it.

When I signed and stamped for the package, it flew away.

I opened the package and found the item's I bought. I got a look at Yukimaru as well.

It was a beautiful katana, Yuki's blade is white with a distinctive red hamon and its tsuba hand-guard has flower-like edges. Its red hamon is Kanemoto-style, having the appearance of a saw or sharp teeth. It has no accessories on the hilt, being wrapped with white silk. Its hilt was white, and the sheath is black, decorated with pink cherry blossom patterns.

I observed it.

 **Yukimaru – Attack power - 1000**

 **Yuki is a katana with a bloody past, made from the blood of a powerful Yuki-Onna; it is designed to tremendously increase the damage potential and destructive power of the user. Its greatest ability is its durability, capable of withstanding strong hits and immense pressures; this katana is not to be messed with lightly, if at all.**

Damn, this is going to be one hell of a weapon to use.

I checked the skill book I bought and a window screen showed up.

 **Battle Healing**

 **Do you wish to learn this skill?**

 **Yes/No**

Of course I do! I pressed the 'Yes' button and another window appeared.

 **Congratulations! You have gained a new skill.**

 **Battle Healing (Passive) – Level 1 – 0.0%**

 **Recover low amounts of HP over time during battle. HP Regen: 2 (2 HP) per minute.**

Sniff…I'm going to cry over the sheer awesomeness. Y-Y.

I also checked the items I bought and decided to put them all in my inventory. After that, I closed the café and went home.

As I went inside my house, I didn't see anyone 'cause they were probably in their rooms sleeping.

I didn't actually go to bed though; I went out to my backyard and started to train using my Katana.

I started to bash some tree's levelling up my [Sword Mastery] more and more until it was sunrise. The results of training were kinda impressive.

 **Sword Mastery (Passive) - Level 10 - 0.3%**

 **Allows the user to freely carry and wield swords. 35% increase in Attack damage with swords. 5% chance of inflicting [Bleeding] Status on targeted enemy.**

Hell yeah.

The next thing I wanted to try was to develop a specific sword technique. You know, like Motoko's Boulder Cutting Blade from Love Hina, but I had no clue how to go about doing it. I used [Mana Burst] on Yukimaru and swiped it in a basic diagonal cut aimed at the tree.

The result was quite surprising.

A crimson crescent wave of mana leapt from my blade and flew towards the tree. When it landed on the trunk of the unfortunate tree, it passed through it as if it wasn't even there, and then blew up! The bisected tree crashed to the ground as I gaped in shock.

"Holy Shit!" That was totally a goddamn Getsuga Tenshō! I then noticed the window that had popped up.

 **Congratulations! As a result of a specific action, you have gained a new skill.**

 **Flying Dragon Wave - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **By channelling [Mana Burst] through only your blade and then swiping at the enemy, you unleash a powerful wave of energy at your foes. The damage dealt varies depending upon your skill levels in [Mana Burst], [Mana Affinity] and [Sword Mastery] combined.**

 **Special Effect: By using the blade Yukimaru as a conduit, the Flying Dragon Wave inherits the durability that the katana is famed for and will ignore the first ranged attack that is used to intercept it.**

 **Mana Cost: 40 MP.**

Th…this…this is a kick ass move! Why the hell didn't I try this earlier?!

 **Condescending Sneer: Because you're a dim-witted, flesh bag.**

Shut up, Bob!

After that, I just went back to bed and sleep for five minutes before my alarm clock waked me up. My parents freaked out over the tree, but ended up just having it replaced…using my income from the café.

A fair thing to do, considering I'm the one who cut the damn thing, but they didn't know that! I resolved to look for somewhere to practice my [Flying Dragon Wave] that wouldn't result in the place being reported to the police. Not an easy thing to do in the middle of a city, but there you have it

I did this for one week, rinse and repeat. My [Sword Mastery] slowly climbed to unlucky number 13 and my [Mana Affinity] and [Mana Burst] skill went up to level 6. Quite impressive, if I do say so myself. It meant that I could fire off 20 consecutive [Flying Dragon Wave] attacks.

Focusing on my weapon skills seemed to be the best thing to do for the moment, in order to make sure that I at least survived an encounter with opponents that my fists couldn't do anything about. I'd level up [Freestyle Brawling] and [Blunt Weapons Mastery] when I thought I was in a safe skill level with my four main focuses this week.

I'm kinda attached to living, y'see.

One day, I was walking from school passing the bridge when I heard a voice behind me.

"E-excuse me." I turned around and saw the person.

A young, attractive woman with long black hair down to her hips and violet eyes was standing behind me. What she was wearing consisted of a dark red jacket with the letter "P" embroidered in gold, a white undershirt, a red bow, and a green skirt with a thin white strip around the lower end of it.

Having heard her call, I turned to her and muttered, "Ahhhh…y-yes?"

The girl fidgeted as she asked uncomfortably, "Erm, y-you're Issei Hyodo…right?"

I nodded slowly. "Ah, yes…I am…"

The girl smiled lightly and responded, "That's good. My name is Yūma Amano. And I've been watching you for a while and I was wondering…would you…" she paused for a moment as her face bunched adorably in embarrassment before she blurted out, "…please be my boyfriend!?"

…

"Of course." I said with a smile.

Yūma looked at me happily and smiled. "That's good to hear. So, it's a date then? How about two days from now?"

I grinned from ear to ear and responded, "That's fine!"

The girl nodded and turned swiftly, giving me a nice look at her striped panties, and took off running, taking a moment to stop and wave before leaving.

… **So, when will you deal with the bitch?**

"Soon Bob…"

 **Raynare – Level 16**

 **Fallen Angel Leader**

 **An angel who has lost her way, she is the leader of a group of angels who operate in an abandoned church. Has been tasked with observing Issei Hyoudou, but has decided to kill him instead.**

"Real soon…" I said with an evil grin.

* * *

 **A/N Notes:Yeah so thats it, thanks for** **reading guys.**

 **Also if you guys want to read some great fanfiction here are some Honorable Mentions:**

 **Gamer Girl by ThePhantomScribe**

 **Sora's Life is a game by RebukeX7(King of Yandere Harems)**

 **Hypnotherapy by Zelkova48**

 **Divergence by You are right...NOT(basically Y.A.R.N)**

 **A Valentines Day screw up by Kingxana0**

 **Jaune's Fall from Grace by The95Will**

 **Disgaea: Dragon of Dragons by RealmofEmptiness**

 **Wow that was a lot more than some. anyway later.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, just so you know. Beta'ed by Seerking.**

* * *

On my way to my café, I thought about the whole deal with Raynare. What the hell were Fallen Angels doing watching me in the first place?

 **You are the Sekiryuutei, y'know.**

Yeah, but still Bob. To the best of their knowledge, I have no idea about the supernatural. Moreover, how do they know that I'm the Sekiryuutei? I didn't even know I was the damn Crimson Dragon Emperor until you told me!

 **Not got a clue. Oi, Ddraig! What the hell are you playing now?**

 **[What? I'm about to level up over here!]**

The hell?

 **[I decided that since my partner has a weird RPG Game-driven power, I should learn a bit about it. I'm currently playing something called 'Titan Quest' and it's actually fairly funny how wrong these humans have gotten some of the details of the gods of Greece.]**

…the hell? An ancient red dragon is playing Titan Quest in my head. Sure, why not? It isn't any less ridiculous than having said red dragon inside my head.

Sorry to pull you from your game, Ddraig, but I need info on the Fallen Angels.

 **[Huh…those guys, eh? What do you want to know?]**

Why would they be watching me would be a good place to start.

 **[Azazel, the leader of the Fallen, is a Sacred Gear Otaku]**

…come again?

 **[He loves messing around with Sacred Gears and making their users sync properly with each other.]** Ddraig explained. **[He likely didn't know I was in here, but knew you had a Sacred Gear of some sort, likely something draconic in origin, so he had a Fallen assigned to keep an eye on you.]**

Wait, there are more dragons locked up in gauntlets?

 **[Not just gauntlets, but yes, other dragons have been sealed into Sacred Gears. The most common Dragon-type Sacred Gear is called the [Twice Critical], which doubles the users power for a while.]**

As Ddraig finishes his dialogue, a box pops up in front of me and I peer at it.

 **Congratulations! Your Sacred Gear has started down the path of power!**

 **Build a relationship with your partner and you will unlock its power!**

Ddraig? Can you see this?

 **[Die, Minotaur! Hmm, you say something?]**

I resist the urge to bash my head off the nearby wall.

This message. Can you see it?

 **[Okaaaayyyy, what on…Bob? What the hell? He should have access to everything but the Balance Breaker, yet he can't even manifest the gear?!]**

 **Hey, it's Zelretch's orders! He wants to see some desperate struggles for survival here. If ya want it unlocked, get to know each other!**

I am going to shove Yukimaru where the sun doesn't shine on that old geezer for this.

 **[With you there.]**

 **Relationship with Ddraig has improved! [Dragon Bringer] has been unlocked! Skill: [Boost] has been unlocked! Skill: [Draconic Shift] has been Unlocked!**

…

Well that was unexpectedly easy.

Was that all it took? Agreeing with each other?

And what's with Dragon Bringer, it sounds like a rip-off of Devil Bringer from DMC? **(A/N: Please help me think of a better name guys. I suck at it.)**

 **What were you expecting? A great series of epic battles were you got your ass kicked repeatedly until you unlock a god mode or something?**

Shut up, Bob!

 **[Anyway…now that a certain, soon-to-be-dead, old man's interference is somewhat undone…you should know that Fallen rarely move around alone.]**

That Raynare chick was alone.

 **[I bet you anything she had some accomplices lurking around somewhere. How strong was she?]**

Level 16. Seriously, if that's how strong the Fallen are, I kinda feel sorry for them.

 **You were that level not a handful of weeks ago.**

Urgh…can't argue with that.

I approached the café and saw a very adorable sight: Janne dressed up in her waitress uniform as she scurried about serving tables and taking orders from the customers. It was a fairly conservative uniform, but it still managed to make Janne look cuter than usual.

 **[You know she could be targeted by the Fallen if they come after you, Partner.]**

Over my dead body.

 **I think that's kinda the idea**.

Raynare is a level higher than Janne is, which should not be too much but I'm worried if she has any tricks up her sleeves.

 **Levels are only a general guide to power. Look at how you killed that Level 45 Wendigo while being Level 17.**

A point, but I almost died several times in that fight. Still, if there's going to be more than one Fallen there, numbers and Levels would kill her. What to do…

 **You could always invite her into your Party.**

…I could what?

 **Invite her into your Party. You know, like in Final Fantasy 7 you get the PHS and the ability to form a team of three? That kind of Party. She'd get a pseudo-Gamer interface like you and be able to distribute her Attribute Points like you can. A Win-Win situation, I'd say.**

…Leaving to one side how you conveniently forgot to tell me I could even do that in the first place, Bob, I would still have to tell her about the Gamer ability, which would have her lock me up in a Looney Bin faster than you can say 'knife'.

 **[Try telling her, and then invite her into the Party to prove it.]** Ddraig suggested. **[I'd call the Gamer Interface conclusive evidence.]**

I shook my head before heading into the café. Work now, figure out how to level up to the point I can kick Fallen Angel ass later.

"Issei!" Janne called when she saw me, "I've almost finished preparing for the afternoon shift."

"Nice job." I congratulate her, "Any trouble?"

"A few guys got fresh, but nothing I couldn't handle!" she replied with a grin, "I am a Knight of Arc, after all!"

I had a sudden surge of pity for the poor saps. My cheeks still stung with phantom pain from when she whacked me across the face a few weeks back.

No, no, no! Janne is my employee and nobody perved on my employees, damn it!

…except me…if I was lucky.

 **Not in a month of blue moons.**

Oh, shut up.

"Listen, I need to talk to you once you go off shift." I told the Knight-turned-waitress, "Meet me in the back room once the afternoon shift arrives."

"Sure." the girl replied, obviously curious.

After making my way to the back room, I opened up the Abyss Auction app and set myself to finding armour. No way could I go toe-to-toe with members of the Fallen without some kind of protection.

A lot of the stuff was either weird, stupid or just not my style. Take for example, the lower-body armour [Ogre Print Panties], a pair of tiger-striped panties with the face of a red Oni on them. I got them as a freebie for my second visit to Abyss Auction. The stat increases were not half bad, but the damn things were unwashed and you had to wear them and nothing but them!

Gross. I'm getting rid of them as soon as I can.

Hello…what is it we have here?

Hey Bob, is it possible to see what the hell these things look like, or is Abyss Auction a blind buy site?

 **Change the options. See at the top right, there should be an option to add the pictures of the item you want to buy. It costs a thousand to activate it though.**

I checked the options and enabled an additional one, putting me down another thousand but leaving me happier with my purchasing abilities.

 **Item Pictures - Enabled**

 **Item QuickView - Enabled**

QuickView allowed me to view the stats and a brief description of any item I wanted to possibly purchase. Useful in this case.

And I had to say I was impressed, it looked awesome and the stats were good, for what it looked like? Well I'll leave it to you guys imagination.

As I hit 'Add to Basket', a window came up that surprised me.

 **Please note that this item requires you to possess the skill [Armour Proficiency]. Do you wish to add the [Armour Proficiency] Skill Book to your basket (1000) before you complete your purchase?**

 **Yes/No**

Well damn. Can't be helped.

 **You do know that money isn't really a problem for you now that you have this café and your ability to get cash from defeating opponents, don't you?**

Hey, my parents have been thrifty with my allowance! Wasting money is a bad thing!

 **This coming from a guy who spent all of aforementioned allowance on galgames, eroge and Moe figures prior to getting the Gamer, that isn't convincing at all.**

Uuuuuu…I can't argue back.

After adding the armour and skill book to my basket, I decided that an accessory wouldn't go amiss either. The listed items were even more exotic than the armour and weapons sections, but I finally found one that was cheap and useful.

 **Mark of the Underdog - Necklace - 1000**

 **A symbol of one who fights against those stronger than himself, regardless of the odds against him.**

 **Adds two levels to the [Battle Healing] skill.**

A small wooden token on a leather thong, it bore a kanji meaning oil.

Before I finished up in the Accessories section, I spotted a bracelet that I thought would be good for Janne.

 **Bangle of Knighthood - Bracelet- 1500**

 **Worn by those who walk the path of a Knight.**

 **Increases all Physical Stats by 3.**

 **Only wearable by Knights.**

That would be a nice little boost for her. Plus, it looked cool too. Silver, with little flower-like things that I vaguely recalled as being French engraved across its circumference.

Yes, I know what circumference means. I am a pervert, but I do pass my math classes.

 **Not by very much though before you got [Intelligence].**

Thank you so much for that unasked for interjection, Bob.

 **No problem.**

…sarcasm has no meaning to him.

Moving on to Items, I checked through the catalogue of items, which was both extensive and disturbing. Poisoned Dragon's Liver, Powdered Hen's Teeth, The Sound of the Colour Yellow…some of these things had to be fake.

 **Dragon's do exist though.**

Yes, and do tell how easy it is to poison a dragon then remove its liver?

… **not easy at all.**

 **[Damn near impossible unless the dragon in question is a retard or is held down with anti-dragon restraints]**

I rest my case.

Moving down, I spotted one item of interest in its own separate category…Dungeon maps.

 **Abyss Auctions is proud to offer its latest feature: Maps to dungeon areas. These are areas crawling with hostile monsters, spirits and the like that have been located by our agents. For a small fee, we will provide such maps of dungeons in your local area to our customers. Any money or items are yours to keep, as per the rites of combat.**

 **Unlike the Hollow Area, Abyssal Auction does not control areas marked by the maps and therefore accepts no responsibility for any injuries, maiming, disfigurement or death that occurs when you visit the locations of the dungeons.**

 **In the interests of safety, we of Abyss Auctions will not sell a map to someone who lacks the strength to survive in that dungeon. This is because we value your continued patronage.**

Hell yeah! This is exactly what the doctor ordered! If I can level up enough by the day after tomorrow, I'll be able to kick Raynare's ass back to wherever it is Fallen Angels hang out since getting kicked out of Heaven.

 **You need to work on your insults.**

Shut up.

Scrolling down the list of maps, I noted that most of them were greyed out, meaning that they were likely not for sale because they were too high-level for me as I am. Good to know that Abyss Auctions is keeping its word, although I had to wonder why they introduced this whole map business when they had the [Hollow Area]. **(A/N: for those of you who played SAO: HF like I did, you should know why.}**

Ah! Now we're cooking with fire! I'd finally found maps that I could buy. Though if I'm going with Janne, I don't want one that's too high levelled. Plus a fairly low-level one would be just for a gentle introduction into this dungeon business.

I frowned when maps below a certain level were greyed out as well. What the heck? Was I too strong for those maps or something? That was the most likely explanation.

The lowest level I could buy was a level twenty map with the rather unusual title of 'Gathering of the Hyakki Yagyō' and required two people to navigate it. Very, very convenient, eh Bob?

 **I plead the Fifth.**

This is Japan, not America. We don't have the Fifth Amendment.

 **Fine. I'm under orders not to tell you. Happy?**

Ecstatic. Now that's another thousand…man I'm spending cash like water here…

With a shrug, I added the map to my basket, and was surprised when another window popped up telling me that, as a limited edition promotional offer, I could buy the map called 'Nurarihyon's Castle' for half price if I bought 'Gathering of the Hyakki Yagyō' during my first Map purchase.

I checked the map in question and was very surprised to see that it was a level thirty map! What the hell? It did make sense, I suppose. Nurarihyon was supposed to be the leader of the Yōkai and leader of the Hyakki Yagyō, so busting up his boys would make him pissed at me, I suppose.

Whatever. The road to getting strong is a long one and I wouldn't let a gourd-headed old man who likes to break into other people's houses get in my way, damn it!

And so, I made my second purchase from Abyss Auctions, spending 6500 in total. In anticipation, I went to the nearest window and opened it. Sure enough, there was the little flying saucer, loaded down with my order.

After I unloaded it, I grabbed the skill book, making the little window pop up.

 **Armour Proficiency**

 **Do you want to learn this skill?**

 **Yes/No**

Hell yeah.

I pressed yes and grinned as the skill window came up.

 **Armour Proficiency (Passive) - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **Armor Proficiency is a skill that allows you to wear all kinds of armor that is used to prevent damage from being inflicted by an object, individual, or vehicle by direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action.**

Well…that was unexpected.

 **[Sounds damn useful, partner. At least it'll protect you until you unlock my Balance Breaker]**

The heck? What's a Balance Breaker?

 **[Just as Sacred Gears are gifts created by the God of the Bible, Balance Breakers are bugs in the Sacred Gear system that the users can exploit. Some refer to a Balance Breaker as the 'Forbidden Infernal Form' or simply the 'Forbidden Move'. Most Balance Breakers are unique, like mine. My Balance Breaker is called the [Boosted Gear Scale Mail], a heavy armour that covers the body and increased the amount of times you can use [Boost] before you reach your limit.]**

OK, so a Balance Breaker is a cheat code. That makes sense, given the name.

A knock at the door drew my attention. Janne came in and closed the door. She had changed into her casual clothes, a knee-length yellow skirt and a white shirt, with a cute little bow on it.

Ah…spending days with a Bishoujo like this rocked!

"Issei-san, you wanted to talk?" she asked.

"Yeah…Janne, do you play games? Like RPG's and stuff?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

To my surprise, Janne flushed as red as a tomato, kinda like she did on the day I rescued her from the Wendigo.

"….promise not to laugh?" she asked after a moment.

"Of course."

Her reluctance to talk was piquing my interest.

"I'm…a big gaming fan." she admitted, "I've been using the salary you've been paying me to buy games to play on your computer, actually."

What, did you think I would make her work without pay? Give me some credit here. Yes, it's only slightly above minimum wage pay, but money's money.

"Umm…that isn't really something to be ashamed of." I reply, "What is embarrassing -on my part anyway- is the amount of eroge you probably had to uninstall in order to install your own games."

Janne flushed red at that. "Y-yeah…but…you are a guy, so h-having an interest in girls isn't a bad thing…"

Kuuuu…such a kind girl!

 **Lucky Bastard.**

"A-anyway, why did you want to know about if I knew about games?" she asked hurriedly.

"Did you ever wonder how I beat that Wendigo that attacked you?" I ask.

"Well...yeah, kind of." she confessed, "I mean, I've been trained as a Knight of the House of Arc all my life, yet I was helpless against that thing."

"This might be hard to believe…but I have a special power called 'The Gamer' that has literally turned my life into a video game, an RPG one to boot." I say with a sigh.

Three, two, one…

"Eh?!" Janne looked shocked, "Seriously?!"

"Yep. Watch this." I say and draw Yukimaru out of my inventory, making her eyes widen to the size of saucers.

"That…that's the Yukimaru! Where did you get it?!"

"Eh? Is it really such a famous sword?"

"You don't know? It was forged by a master blacksmith from the blood of a freshly-killed Yuki-Onna and is hunted by members of every Yuki-Onna Clan." Janne told me to my rising fright, "Once they discover you have it, you'll have one chance to hand the blade over to them before they attack. That sword is bad luck."

Now I'm being told about this shit! Bob, I'm going to have a word with you about this later!

 **Hey, you're the one who didn't activate the Abyss Auction QuickView mode! That warning was there!**

"W…well, that's interesting…but the point is, I just took Yukimaru from my inventory." I chuckle weakly, "There is no limit to what I can store in there and there's no weight limit either."

"That…no way!" Janne breathed in awe, "So lucky!"

…eh?

"I'd give anything to have such a cool power!" she continued, leaving me agape at her enthusiasm. I could swear that she had stars in her eyes!

"W-well…that can be arranged." I said in a faux-offhand manner, making her lock eyes with me.

"What?"

"I can invite you into a party with me, which will give you a faux-Gamer interface." I explain, "I actually only found out about that function recently. The problem is…I'm going to be attacked soon."

"Attacked? By who? Why?" Janne asks with narrowed eyes.

"Fallen Angels." I sigh, "Let's show her why, Ddraig. **[Dragon Bringer]**!"

 **[Boost!]**

In a burst of red light, a dragon's arm with a gem embedded in the back of my hand replaced my arm. The green jewel atop the back of my hand emitted a green light and the pure red coloured flesh and scales seem to be alive.

 **You have been affected by the Status Condition: Boost. Your power has been doubled!**

"B…Boosted Gear!" Janne gaped in shock, "You're the Sekiryuutei?!"

"I only discovered that fact a week ago, when I first spoke to Ddraig. Even then, I didn't awaken my Sacred Gear until after I beat the Wendigo." I said with a helpless shrug, "As it turns out, a group of Fallen Angels are in town and want to kill me, directly against their orders, I might add."

"So…wait…you said this was like an RPG?" Janne thought aloud, "Does that mean there are levels as well?"

"Yep. That Wendigo you fought? That was Level 45." I told her gently, "You were only Level 15 at the time, while I was Level 17."

"You were only two levels higher than me yet you beat a monster like that that was just above three times your level?! Without your Sacred Gear?!" she yelped in even more shock.

"Well it took me five hours to do." I said modestly, "How you were unconscious that beggars belief. I did almost die a couple of times though and that's how my Sacred Gear became my official arm explaining the name change. That was scary."

"Sorry…" Janne slumped into herself, depressed.

"It's OK. The irritating thing about my Gamer power is that it randomly gives out quests for everything under the sun." I hastily reassure her, "It forced me into fighting that damn overgrown teddy bear, although I would have still fought it to get you out of there. Anyway, Ddraig says that Fallen are usually fairly strong, so I'm going to be training myself before they attack in two days time. I was wondering if you'd like to train with me?"

"YES!" Janne begged, "Add me to your Party!"

OK, I've been given the go ahead, so how do I do this, Bob?

 **Just say 'Invite Janne Arc into my Party' and the rest will handle itself.**

"OK then. Invite Janne Arc into my party." I repeated aloud, dismissing [Dragon Bringer] once more.

A window popped up in front of Janne, making her jump in surprise.

 **Issei Hyodou has invited you into his party.**

 **Accept/Decline**

Nervously, Janne pressed the 'Accept' button, making the window vanish. Then, she gasped as she looked at Issei.

"What do you see?" he asked curiously.

"It says…Issei Hyodou…[The Gamer]…Level 31?!" she squeaked.

Huh? Oh yeah, I'd levelled up the previous day. Go figure that one. Hitting trees with a sword seems to do wonders for EXP.

"I gained a lot of levels after beating down that Wendigo." I told her modestly, "Otherwise, I'd only be Level Twenty-something right now. Now, if you want to check out your stats, just say 'Status'."

"S-Status?" she said uncertainly, then let out a cute 'eep' when the screen popped up. I walked around to stand next to her so I could check out her stats as well.

 **Jeanne Arc - Level 15**

 **Knight**

 **[Knight of Arc]**

 **HP: 500/500**

 **MP: 200/200**

 **STR: 45**

 **VIT: 45**

 **DEX: 45**

 **INT: 36**

 **WIS: 12**

 **LUC: 14**

 **Points: 0**

 **Money: 14528**

Huh…as expected of a Knight, her stats were heavily slanted towards the physical side of things. She was luckier than me though. Her HP was higher than mine was at Level 17. Was that a Class bonus for being a Knight, I had to wonder? Actually, did Character Classes or Jobs even exist in [The Gamer] interface?

"W…wow…!" Janne breathed, her starry-eyed look back in full force, "This is sooo cool!"

I had to chuckle at how child-like and adorable she was.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool, isn't it? Best part is, you can equip things still in your inventory just with a verbal command, so you can hide your weapons and armour until you actually need them. And, just to warn you, if you see someone with a question mark instead of a level, don't fight them as they are way more powerful than you are." I lectured, basking in her rapt attention.

Ahhhh…to be a teacher is a wonderful thing!

"So…you could see the Wendigo's Level and so you thought you could win?" Janne asked.

"By the time I saw the Wendigo and its Level, I was drawn into fighting it." I reply ruefully, "There was nothing to do but fight and hope I would win."

This makes Janne look depressed again, so I decide to distract her with something.

"Catch!" I say before tossing her the Bangle of Knighthood.

She caught it before her eyes bulged out of her sockets in shock when she saw what it was.

"I-Issei-san? What..?"

"Consider this a 'thanks for teaming up with me' present." I said with a grin, "That bracelet increases your physical stats by a small amount, so try equipping it and see the difference."

"Err…[Equip Bangle of Knighthood]?" Janne said uncertainly. In a flash, the bracelet was equipped to her right arm and she looked at her stats where, as expected, her STR, VIT and DEX had gone up by three.

"This is incredible…" she breathed.

"It is at that." I had to agree. Almost being killed by monsters to one side, it really was a fun thing to do, living your life as a video game, "I bought a dungeon map here so we can start levelling up."

I waved the brown parchment I plucked from the Abyss Auctions box, then double-checked it to make sure it was the lower level dungeon. Yep, it was.

"Where's your armour, but the way?" I asked.

"I left it over here." Janne replied as she walked over to a locker on one side of the room, "I didn't want your parents to ask any questions about a sword and armour, but now I guess I can just leave it in my inventory."

She opened the locker, removed her armour and weapons and deposited them in her inventory.

"Shall we go?" she said with a grin.

* * *

After doing a quick run home to tell my parents I would be out, Janne and I headed for the location indicated by the map.

Kuoh City isn't very big. For a City anyway. The map specifically led us to a building on the very edge of the city, a rundown warehouse with a rusted metal hatch in the centre of the main floor. This, according to the map, was the entrance to the dungeon.

"Better equip our armour and weapons." I said to Janne, who nodded. In a flash, she was kitted out in the same outfit as when I first saw her and I was wearing my casual clothes which were refined with mana, a red shirt covered by a black open hoodie, and dark blue jeans with blue sneakers, clutching Yukimaru in my right hand.

I didn't want to use my new armor just yet so no surprise there.

As I stepped towards the hatch, stairs were revealed when the hatch slid smoothly back. Then, a window popped up.

 **Warning! You are about to enter the Dungeon 'Gathering of the Hyakki Yagyō'. Once you enter, you can only exit by clearing the dungeon.**

 **Do you wish to proceed?**

 **Yes/No**

"Of course we do." I said, "Let's go."

"Right behind you." Janne said with a nod. We headed down the steps and into the darkness

The concrete stairs and tunnel abruptly changed into wood, the kind you see in those old Japanese Period Dramas set back in the Warring States Period when you're in an abandoned manor or castle. We stopped to take a gander at the surroundings.

"OK, freaky." Janne said in a whisper, "I've never seen a building change like this. Not even Devils can do that without using a really powerful spell using their magic."

"Huh…so Devils have powerful magic?" I had to ask. Since one of the most popular girls at Kuoh Academy is a Devil, it got me curious about exactly what they could do.

"Yeah! Out of the Three Factions during the Great War between Heaven, the Underworld and the Fallen Angels, the Devils magic was only limited by the imagination of the caster." Janne replied, "It was one of the reasons they held their own, even against the light-based weapons of the Angels and Fallen Angels that the Devils are weak against."

"Wait…Devils are weak against light?!" How the hell can they walk around in the sun?! Yumi Kiba didn't seem to have any problems when I last saw her.

"Especially weak Devils are greatly weakened by ordinary sunlight, but what really harms them are the Holy Light weapons that Angels and their Fallen counterparts wield." Janne clarified.

Huh. Who knew? Devils are weak against overpowered flashlights.

We started forward again, keeping an eye out for any monsters or Yōkai as we went. The eerie atmosphere wasn't helped by the dim light and creaky half-rotten floorboards. It was goddamn freaky!

"Shouldn't we have run into something by now?" Janne asked.

"Yeah." I replied. Seriously, we'd been here for five minutes already and there wasn't a single enemy around. What's with that?

Suddenly, we emerged in what looked like a hall, full of rotten furniture and lit with pale blue lights that flickered and danced on torches mounted on the wall.

"Janne, I have more HP than you, so I'll Tank any enemies while you cut them up." I say to my teammate as we make out way into the room cautiously.

"But in games, Knights do the tanking!" she protested.

"I'm twice your level; I have far more HP to absorb damage with than you do." I reply, "Once we get your level up past the twenties, you'll grow in HP so we can switch roles, OK?"

"Fair enough." she allowed. I could tell that it didn't sit well with her, but numbers don't lie. I had just under three times her HP to play with, so it was the best strategy until she was close in parity to my own HP.

WHOOSH!

In an instant, both doors in and out of the room were sealed by a curtain of flames. Ah. Now it starts to make sense. This was a dungeon that only had enemies in certain rooms instead of wandering around for random encounters.

As I relay this to Janne, one of the torches unleashes a geyser of flames that splits into three separate bodies of fire. The flames writhe for a moment before revealing the monsters true forms.

Three dark green capes fluttered in an unseen breeze, with pointed hats atop their heads, which were carved pumpkins. Each clutched in their single hand was an old-fashioned lamp.

Observe!

 **Jack O'Lantern - Level 19**

 **Onryō**

 **A wandering soul cursed to never know rest.**

So each torch summons at least three enemies. Presumably, we had to kill all of the enemies in order to advance. Well, time to aggro these suckers.

"Hoi! Pumpkinhead! Get over here so I can cut you up!" I jeer at the three floating spirits, who gain tick marks on their heads at my taunt.

 **Congratulations! Through a specific action, you have created a new skill!**

 **Taunt - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **The ability to rile up your enemies and draw their aggression towards yourself. The higher the level of this skill, the higher chance that it will work. You also gain better insults as a result.**

Yeah, interesting, but I'm a bit busy here, Bob!

 **It's my job!**

With ghostly wails, the three floating pumpkins charged forwards and started launching fireballs at me from their lanterns! I didn't feel like being barbecued, so I dodged what I could, and tried to deflect what few I couldn't dodge with my sword.

Much to my surprise, it was easy, especially considering the fireballs moved as fast as a slowly tossed ball. I don't think Yukimaru really appreciated it though. I could have sword I heard a small shriek every time a fireball hit the blade.

"Yukimaru isn't a demon blade, spirit blade or cursed blade, is it?" I call to Janne as she circled around to flank the Jack O'Lanterns.

"No!" she replied as she charged, spitting one of the pumpkin spirits with her blade, "It's just a really good sword! Why?"

"It's shrieking when it gets hit by fire!" I reply, "Ow! Hot!"

I was hit in the chest by one fireball.

 **HP: 1449/1499**

Barely fifty points of damage. Huh. Guess refining my clothes with mana was pretty damn useful. Time to counter-fire.

"[Flying Dragon Wave]!" I shouted as I unleashed a crescent of red energy at one of the flying enemies. With a shriek, the Jack O'Lantern is cut in half and explodes.

By this time, Janne had finished off her original target and had moved on to the second one. She spared a moment to give me a wide-eyed look at the use of my skill before she dealt the final blow to her own target.

"Whew…" I rub where the fireball hit on my clothes, "Hey…no reward notice? Damn. We must have to clear the room to get anything."

Janne did a quick count. "There's three more torches. Let's get busy!"

In short order, nine more Jack O'Lanterns ranging between Levels 18 and 20 were squashed into puréed pumpkin. As Janne cut the last one into pieces, all the torches flared up again before turning from the pale blue to the colour of regular flames.

Also, the flames covering the doors flickered and died as well. Nice.

 **Congratulations! You have defeated twelve Jack O'Lanterns!**

 **You gain 150 EXP.**

A blue glow surrounded Janne, who looked at me in surprise.

"I levelled up!" she said in surprise.

"You must have been close." I say with a smile, "How much EXP did you get?"

"Ummm…650." she says, and my eyes bulge. She got over four times as much EXP as me!

 **It makes sense. You're overpowered for this dungeon, she's underpowered. It's only reasonable that she'd get the lion's share of EXP.**

Ah. Fair enough. I turn my attention to the corpses of the monsters to find that all of them had disintegrated. Left behind by a few of them were…

"…loot!" Janne cheers.

"Hell yeah. Let's see what we've got!" I say and head towards the nearest pile of loot. It wasn't much, just a messy bundle of Yen notes and one of the Lanterns that the monster's used as a weapon. I reach down and touch the notes and they vanish.

 **You gain 1000 Yen!**

Nice. Let's see this lantern then.

 **Spirit Lantern - Accessory**

 **A lantern formally belonging to a Jack O'Lantern. By equipping it in one hand and channelling Mana into it, you are able to light your path and reveal any hidden doors with its ghostfire light.**

 **Only usable in a Dungeon.**

Huh….kinda like the Head of Helios from God of War III then.

Most of the rest was just cash, although more money is never a bad thing. Janne got another Spirit Lantern, but it was the last monster loot drop that surprised us both: a skill book.

 **You have acquired the 'Summon: Onibidama' skill book.**

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **Yes/No**

"What's an Onibidama?" Janne asked in confusion.

Ah. A foreigner.

"Literally, it means Ogre Fireball." I explain, "It's a Japanese term for Will O' The Wisp, mysterious fire-like orbs that are said to be the souls of the dead, the Japanese equivalent of these Jack O'Lanterns. I guess, since we kicked their asses so well, they've given us the option to summon them as minions or something."

"I can't learn it; I'm a Knight of House Arc." Janne said firmly.

"I'll put it in my inventory for the moment." I conclude. Summoning fire-types where other fire-types were likely to be was an exercise in futility.

As we moved on, I noted that my [Battle Healing] skill was churning out replacement HP at a rather slow rate. Ah. Knew I forgot something.

"[Equip Mark of the Underdog!]" I say and the necklace is around my neck. I see that my Regen rate is improved almost immediately. Janne equipped her Spirit Lantern and shined it everywhere just to make certain there was no hidden rooms not marked on the map.

The monsters in the next room were weird. All of them were level 18 monsters called Obariyon, Piggyback Yōkai the size of toddlers that leapt around like acrobats, occasionally attacking and using some weird skill to slow us down.

 **You have been affected by the Skill 'Sukunda'**

 **Your DEX is lowered by one!**

Grrr….

It took a while, but we eventually caught up to and killed all of the little buggers. Even Janne was irritated by the damn things, which is saying something for the usually easygoing girl.

The drops were fairly tame aside from an item called a [Pure Gold Mon], an antique Japanese coin from back in the Warring States Period. This would mean a lot of money if we could sell them.

The next room was full of both Jack O'Lanterns and Obariyon, which was even more irritating, although Janne did level up again after we killed them. The loot was boring as well.

"According to the map, the next room is the last room." I say as we take a rest, "That means it should be the boss."

"What Level do you think it will be?" Janne asked as she looked around the room we were in, which looked much the same as any of the others.

"Dunno. All the small fry were at least 18, at max 20." I reply with a frown, "I'd say at least Level 25, maybe a couple of levels higher than that."

"Y-Yikes…"

"Yeah, which is why I'm giving you this." I say as I hand her the Phoenix Tears, which made her eyes widen.

"I-Issei! These are Phoenix Tears! How did you get them?!" she asked in shock.

"Abyss Auction." I shrug, "Anyway, if your health goes too far down, disengage and use that."

"Wh-what about you?" Janne asked worriedly.

"Meh. I have a HP Potion and a MP Potion, not to mention my [Battle Healing] Skill." I reply confidently, "I'll be fine. I just hope this guy gives us some decent EXP. I still haven't levelled up."

It did make sense, considering I'd only levelled up yesterday, but c'mon!

"Same plan as before?" Janne asked as she stood up.

"Why break a winning formula?" I said with a crooked roguish grin.

Eh? Why is she flushing?

"Right…let's go then!" she cheered and headed towards the last passage. I followed her, my left hand on my head scratching in confusion. What was with her?

 **You are a true thickheaded Shounen protagonist, you know that?**

Oi!

 **[Partner, I have to agree with him here. by the way don't smile like that too much, you have no idea what effect that has.]**

You too Ddraig?!

Ignoring the two voices in my head, I jogged after Janne, catching up with her before she reached the next room, which was barred by a large stone door engraved with the kanji for 'Underworld' in the center.

"Ready?" I asked Janne, who had calmed down.

"Ready." she replied and raised her sword and shield.

I pushed at the door and, to my surprise, it sank into the ground rather than swing to one side. Weird.

Janne and I entered the room cautiously, alert for anything unusual. It was pretty dam hard to see though, because the room was pitch black and the Spirit Lanterns seemed to have no effect on it.

"You dare enter here?!" a voice bellowed. Abruptly, the darkness was banished by a blaze of light from braziers dotted around the room, which we could now see to be a temple-like room with pillars dotted around the place.

At the far end of the room stood something even taller than the Wendigo had been. It had a muscular body with red skin, encased in baroque green armour with yellow trim, and had the head of a horse instead of a man. Clasped in one hand was a massive halberd and sheathed at his waist was a long Chinese-style sword…a Jian, I think it is called.

 **Mezuki - Level 26**

 **One of the offspring of Horse-Face, one of the Guardians of the Gates of the Underworld. A subordinate of Nurarihyon. Largely immune to fire.**

Did I ever call it or what?

"Human scum!" the Mezuki bellowed, "You dare interfere in the business of the Hyakki Yagyō?! You dare attack my lord's soldiers?! Prepare to die!"

Uhh…Ddraig? I think I'll need your help on this one.

 **[You got it, partner]**

 **"[Dragon Bringer]!"**

 **[Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the 'Boost!' Status! Your power has been doubled!**

"A Longinus!" the Yōkai hissed, "Capturing you will please my lord!"

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Sacred Gear Fear: Defeat the Mezuki so he cannot capture you!**

 **Completion Rewards: 1500 EXP**

 **Quest Item**

 **Sword 'Himari'**

 **Quest Completion Failure: Capture, eventual Death.**

 **Yes/No**

"If we fail this, you die!?" Janne yelped, "No way!"

"We don't have a choice." I point out, "The 'NO' option has been greyed out, so we have to accept and win."

"On it." she replied and I was taken aback by the sudden determination in her face and voice. She really didn't want me to die.

Such a good girl!

 **Deadpan Statement: You are denser than a mountain of solid granite, human flesh bag.**

Shut up Bob!

As we hit 'Yes', the Mezuki gives a loud 'Neigh' of challenge and starts to run towards us.

"Fast!" Janne said.

"He's part horse." I shrug, "Hey, Gelding! Bring it if you think you can!"

 **[For those of you who don't know what a Gelding is,** **A Gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. If you want to know what castration is please don't let me explain it if you are under the appropriate age. I'm a Dragon but please think of the children.]**

 **Taunt skill activated!**

"I'm a stallion, not a gelding!" the horse-demon roared in a fury as he whirled to face me.

"We'll see about that! [Flying Dragon Wave]!" I shouted and sent my only special attack right at my enemy. Try and capture me, eh?!

Taken by surprise, the horse-headed demon shrieked in pain as my attack slammed into him, driving him back a metre and shredding his torso armour like tissue paper.

Janne took this opportunity to dart in and land a few blows with her sword before hopping back out of range of the halberd.

"Y-You…human trash!" the Mezuki seethed, veins popping up as his fury grew, "You dare to wound me?!"

"We're fighting." I point out with a snort, "What did you think I was going to do? Paint a picture?"

 **Taunt Skill has Levelled Up!**

 **[Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the 'Boost!' Status! Your power has been doubled!**

Shrieking in anger again, the Mezuki lashed out at me with his halberd. I manage to parry his blow, but it threw me off balance because of the sheer weight of the weapon and the strength behind it, so I was unprepared for the damn thing to breathe blue fire on me!

"Ow! Hothothothothothothot!" I yell in pain.

 **You have been afflicted with the 'Burn' Status! You lose 15 HP per minute.**

"Dammit!" I growl and charge under the next swipe of the halberd and punch the demon with Dragon Bringer, which, much to my surprise, sent the bastard flying into one of the pillars, breaking it in half.

"Holy Shit!"

"I'll say." Janne agreed in disbelief.

The Mezuki staggered to its feet before roaring again, throwing its weapon to one side and drawing the sword at its waist. Then it started to glow an odd yellow colour.

"What the heck is that?!" I yelp. I was getting a really bad feeling about it! The window that popped up did not lessen that feeling any.

 **Tōki**

 **A branch of Senjutsu that allows the used to control the energy of their life, surrounding themselves in an aura that increases their attack, defence and speed tremendously.**

Shit! This was not going to be good!

"Janne, watch out! This aura is Tōki! He's now faster and stronger than he was before!" I warn her. It made sense that he would power up after getting hurt badly. Some Bosses, like Yunalesca in Final Fantasy X, changed forms as they lost HP and it was just our luck that he could pull a cheat move like that out of his ass!

The Mezuki leapt forwards, even faster than he was before, and struck at me with his Jian. I blocked it with Yukimaru and locked blades with him. I felt myself getting pushed back. Shit.

Disengaging, I fired off another [Flying Dragon Wave] at him, only to gape as the horse demon smashed the attack out of the air as if it wasn't even there.

"Dammit, looks like it's the Wendigo scenario again!" I snarl and use [Mana Burst] to cover my body in a red aura, releasing it from my legs to shoot straight at the Mezuki like a bullet.

 **[Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the 'Boost!' Status! Your power has been doubled!**

"What sort of half-baked knock-off of Tōki are you using, brat?!" the horse demon snorted.

"Your breath smells like rotten hay!" I shout as I bring Yukimaru back and swipe down with a double-handed cut that the Mezuki tries to block with his own sword.

With a loud crack, Yukimaru breaks the thin blade of the Jian in half and buries itself in the chest of the Yōkai, making him shriek in pain and disbelief.

 **Congratulations! Through a specific action, a new skill has been created!**

 **Weapon Destruction - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **Strike the weakest part of a weapon to destroy it.**

 **5% chance of success.**

Not now, Bob!

I twisted Yukimaru out of the wound and started cutting and slicing away at the stupefied Mezuki in a frenzy. Janne charged in as well and started adding her own sword to the fray.

"Damn…pests!" the Mezuki roared, "I don't need weapons to smash you to dust!"

"Really? It looks like you're getting your ass kicked with or without weapons, you overgrown pony!" I jeered at him. Seriously, do all supernatural creatures have an ego the size of Hokkaido or something? His armour is torn all to fuck, his sword's broken and he's bleeding from dozens of wounds, yet the damn horse demon was still talking smack.

 **For making an astute observation, your WIS goes up by one.**

Oh, shut up!

Janne chose that moment to sink her blade into the back of the Mezuki's knee. With a bellow of pain, the Yōkai sent a backhand at her, which she tired to block with her shield. Sadly, the shield/sheath crumpled under the blow and sent Janne flying across the room.

"Janne!" Damn you, you oversized piece of..!

I coated Yukimaru in a [Mana Burst] and, in a fit of blind fury, used it to lop off the arm that had hurt my employee. Black blood spurted from the severed appendage and the Mezuki wailed and shrieked in agony before -finally! - collapsing to the ground in defeat.

"Janne!" I called as I raced over to her side, "Are you OK?!"

"Uhhh…ow." she slurred, "My shield…"

"It's still fine, damn what is this thing made of?" The Mezuki's last blow didn't even make a dent.

I checked Janne's health and winced. That single blow from the Horse Demon had taken out a third of her HP. I removed my Health Potion from my inventory and made her drink it up. No point wasting Phoenix Tears on non-debilitating injuries.

 **Congratulations! Quest Complete!**

 **Sacred Gear Fear: You have slain the Mezuki, preventing your capture!**

 **Quest Completion Reward: 1500 EXP**

 **Quest Item - Seal of Horse-Face**

 **Sword 'Himari'**

Janne stood up slowly, looked at the quest completion window and pressed the Quest item, bringing up a smaller window that detailed what it did.

 **Seal of Horse-Face - Summons the Gatekeeper of the Underworld Mezu to do battle with you. Recommended level - 200.**

"Seal of Horse-Face? I definitely want to wait a while before using that." she said with a shiver.

I had to agree. His low-level offspring was a stubborn bastard and, with the Minimum Level to face Gatekeeper being at least 150, I really didn't want to face the bastard until I was level 200 or so.

 **Congratulations! You have slain the Mezuki!**

 **You Receive 1500 EXP.**

 **You Have Levelled Up!**

 **You have 5 Additional Attribute Points to spend.**

 **[Sword Mastery] has Levelled up! 13-14.**

 **[Mana Burst] has Levelled Up! 6-9.**

 **[Mana Affinity] has Levelled Up! 6-10.**

Sheesh. That's a lot of Skills levelling up at once. Janne also glowed, signalling she had levelled up as well.

"Let's go see what goodies the boss dropped." I say to Janne.

"I hope it was worth it."

We approached the corpse of the Mezuki.

I poked the Mezuki experimentally with Yukimaru and the corpse of the Boss vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind a heap of stuff. There was a mound of cash that I split between me and Janne, a couple of skill books that I placed in my inventory for later, as well as three odd items.

First, there was a pale green magatama that seemed to shine with it's own inner light.

 **Magatama of Inner Strength - Accessory**

 **By combining this item with a piece of armour, it gains the power to increase MP Regen by 5%. This can only be performed once per item and is irreversible.**

Second, there was a golden key that looked like it had been made in the Edo period.

 **Key of the Hyakki Yagyō - Unique**

 **The key to the store box of the Hyakki Yagyō in Nurarihyon's Castle.**

Finally, there was a small wooden box that had no label. I cautiously flipped it open with Yukimaru. Inside, there was a pair of bracelets that looked identical. They were plain brass with the character for Horse engraved in the centre of them.

 **Companion Bracelets - Accessories**

 **Must be worn by two separate people. Grants both the ability to track the health and location of the other person within a 10 Kilometre radius. Soul Binds on Equip.**

"Soul Binds?" Janne questioned with a frown.

"It's an MMORPG term." I explain, "It means that no one can steal it if you die and have to respawn. Here though, as we can't respawn, I don't see why it even applies."

 **Soul Bound**

 **Any item you have equipped can be stolen from you by someone with the skills [Mug], [Pickpocket], [Thievery] or [Banditry]. The sole exception to that rule is items that are Soul Bound. No one can remove Soul Bound items except from the owner.**

"OK, now that is useful." I admitted after reading the description so helpfully put up by Bob, "Let's get out of this dungeon now. I'm tired."

"Join the club." Janne grumbled, "How do we get out though? The door's locked up."

This was a good point. Then, an idea strikes me.

"The Spirit Lanterns! Look around the walls with the Spirit Lanterns!" I said excitedly. Of course! Why else give us the things if there wasn't a hidden room or something to use them to find?

We split up and searched the room, starting at the door and working our way around the walls until we met in the middle, exactly opposite the door.

"Figures it would be here." Janne remarked as the light from our torches revealed a flight of stairs, "Right were that Mezuki was standing when we arrived."

"We should have searched here first." I agreed, "Well, onwards and upwards."

The wooden staircase abruptly became concrete after about five minutes of walking and then we were out of the tunnel…via the same way we had entered the dungeon in the first place.

"What the…how the hell did …this makes even less sense than The Gamer!" I said in mild exasperation.

"I agree." Janne shook her head in bemusement, and then flushed as her stomach growled.

"We have been using a lot of energy." I said, being a gentleman and ignoring the sound, "Let's go to a restaurant and have some food. My treat."

"OK!" Janne looked relieved by that. She must be hungry. I'm a bit peckish myself, now I come to think about it.

We unequipped all our armour and weapons and left the warehouse. Fortunately, neither of us had any bruises, cuts nor even as much as a speck of dirt on our clothes.

Game Logic, Banzai! You can walk through an ocean of blood and come out spick and span!

"What do you feel like eating?" I ask Janne, "There's a few different restaurants in Kuoh. Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Western food…"

"I've never tried Ramen before." she confessed.

"Seriously?!" I'm not Naruto, but I have had Ramen before. How long has this girl been in Japan anyway?! You can barely move without a Ramen parlour or cart showing itself.

"About…two months now." Janne replied when I asked her, "I usually bought onigiri and stuff from those useful 24-hour convenience stores. Some fruit and the like as well."

"Seriously, you need a keeper." I mutter, "Follow me."

I led her to a restaurant that my dad had taken me to one day after work. It wasn't the biggest or the cheapest, but it did serve good food.

"Welcome!" the man behind the counter yelled as Janne and I walked in.

"Yo. Pork Ramen for me Teuchi." I said as I sat down.

"Err…I haven't had Ramen before, so I have no idea what to order." Janne confessed as she sat next to me.

"How about a veggie Ramen then." Teuchi suggested.

"Sounds good." Janne nodded.

As the cook bustled around making our ramen, Teuchi's daughter Ayame brought us some water before heading to help her Dad. I noticed the two looking strangely at each other.

Weird.

Janne and I chatted for a while, talking about the café and how she liked it and the uniform.

Now I come to think of it, this was the first time that I had spent around a girl and not perved on her. It wasn't that Janne was unattractive, far from it, but…I can't explain it.

 **Bow.**

 **[Chika Bow Wow.]**

Again, SHUT UP YOU ASSHOLES!

At that point, we were served with our ramen and we busied ourselves with eating. Janne made a pleased sound as she tasted her first ramen.

Hehehe…Issei, four points.

As we finished and I paid for the two bowls, the cook leaned over to Janne and whispered something in her ear that made her flush bright red. Eh? What?

"L-Let's head home." Janne stuttered as she got up, "Your parents are probably wondering where we are."

OK, now I'm confused.

 **Irritated Statement: You need to open your eyes, Meatbag.**

Leaving your obsession with SW: KOTOR to one side, what the hell does that mean?

 **[He means that you need to see reality rather than just what you think is reality]** Ddraig told me.

That was like sending someone an encyclopedia with only a postcard for contents. What do you two mean?

 **You'll figure it out…eventually.**

That was more than less than unhelpful.

As we headed back to my house, a girl cosplaying as a Mahou Shoujo was handing out leaflets. As I passed, she handed me one.

"Please give us your business!" she said with a cute smile.

I turned my attention to the leaflet as we walked away and almost choked

What the…

 **Devil Summoning Circle - Gremory Family**

 **Allows you to summon a member of the local members of the Gremory Clan. They will do an exchange of services for pay.**

Wait…Gremory…as in Rias Gremory-sempai?!

* * *

A/N: Well that's all and especially thank you Seerking, I couldn't have done this without you. Later guys.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N Notes: Since you guys didn't help me with a new name for Boosted Gear, I'll just go with Dragon Bringer from now on.**

 **Disclaimer: Yeah…still don't own anything. Just so you know. Beta'ed by Seerking**

* * *

The next day, I was still in shock from discovering that one of the Two Great Onee-sama of Kuoh Academy…used flyers for recruiting and other devil things. Seriously!

…What? I already knew she was a devil.

I was headed to school when I decided to ask my dragon companion about this subject.

Ddraig, what do you know about Devils?

 **[They suffered many casualties in the Great War.]** He replied, **[The Original Yondai-Maoh died in the final battle, from what I heard.]**

Wait…the leaders of the Devils are dead?!

 **[They have new ones.]** He told me with the mental equivalent of a shrug, **[Sirzechs from the House of Gremory, Serafall from the House of Sitri, Ajuka from the House of Astaroth and Falbium from the House of Glasya-Labolas won their titles after a civil war with the Houses of the Original Maoh.]**

Wait a minute! Gremory?! That means Rias-sempai is…

 **[Related to one of the rulers of Devilkind? Yup.]** Ddraig said with all the indifference of a referee.

But…why would someone related to one of the leaders of the Devils be here?!

 **[That requires a bit of explanation.]** Ddraig said **, [After the casualties from both the Great War and the Devil Civil War, the numbers of pureblood Devils were dangerously low. Ajuka, the new Beelzebub, created the [Evil Piece] system to replenish the ranks of Devils.]**

Evil Pieces? What the heck are those?

 **[Basically, magic chess pieces.]** Ddraig replied **[High Ranking Devils, mostly from members of the 72 Pillars Families, receive pieces which allow them to reincarnate other races, like humans, into Devils. Each piece has its own power that is granted to the reincarnated being, for example, a [Rook] is granted enhanced physical strength. Just about the only beings the Evil Pieces will not work on are Deities and Buddhas. Any human or part human that possesses a Sacred Gear is highly sought after for, which is why Devils with the rank of [Peerage King] tend to spend a lot of time in the Human World.]**

Ddraig, how do you know all this? You've been locked in a gauntlet for Kami-sama-knows how long.

 **[Partner, I've been shuffled from host to host ever since being locked up in this gauntlet.]** Ddraig replied, **[Most, if not all, of my hosts awoke me and used me in battle. A few even found these things out, meaning I found out about them at the same time. And, just so you know, He doesn't know.]**

Eh? Who doesn't?

 **[The God of the Bible. He died during the War as well.]**

…what? The so-called Almighty God of the Bible? The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit? That God died?

 **[Yup. That's why the Balance Breakers exist. They're a bug in the Sacred Gear System that was still incomplete when He died.]** Ddraig replied somberly, **[Still, even without God, the world moves on. Even without Him, life still exists, people live and love and I'm stuck in this gauntlet.]**

… **that last part really ruined what was a wonderful explanation, y'know Ddraig.**

 **[I know, but have you ever been shoved into a space less than a hundredth of a size of your real body? It fucking sucks ass!]** Ddraig retorted indignantly.

As the two voices in my head descend into a very childlike Insult War, I approached the gates of Kuō Academy, where the Seito Kaicho was giving everyone a look-over before they entered the school. I had stopped getting the 'Run to school' quests a while back, although I was now in the habit of getting to school on time because of them.

I glance at her name floating above her head and freeze for a moment.

 **Sona Sitri - Level 35**

 **Heiress of the Sitri Family**

 **Sona Sitri, under the alias of Sona Shitori, is the Student Council President of Kuō Academy. A High-Class Devil, she specialises in water-based Magic like the majority of her Family do. She is also the King of her own Peerage of Devils, most of whom are in the Student Council, as well as the younger sister to the Maoh Serafall Leviathan.**

Two High-class Devils who are related to the leaders of Devil Society are in the same school as me. Oh boy.

I kept my head down as I entered the school. What was with that level?! I had [The Gamer] to give me a boost in levelling up, but she was just my age!

 **[Female Devils can use magic to appear younger than they actually are.]** Ddraig broke off from his squabble with Bob long enough to inform me, **[But I don't think that's the case with her. Be very careful with that one partner. If she's as strong as that at her age, she won't be easy to fight or deceive.]**

Yeah, like you need to tell me that! Sona-Kaicho is infamous for being sharper than a freshly sharpened katana! She's also scored in the Top 10 on the Nationwide Mock Exams! Like hell I'd be able to disassemble in front of her!

I zoned out in classes as I ran over everything in my mind. Seriously, the entire school is infested with Devils. If Rias-sempai is as high-levelled as Sona-Kaicho is…crap.

Fallen Angels stalking me and wanting to kill me outside of school…Devils all but running the school…when were the actual Angels going to show up and what were they going to do to me when they did?!

 **[Angels wouldn't do anything to you.]** Ddraig told me, [ **This town is officially the territory of the Gremory Family, and so the Forces of Heaven will not want to possibly reignite the war.]**

That's a relief.

 **[No, they'd more than likely send exorcists in to deal with you.]**

NOT HELPING!

By the end of classes, I was a wreck. It wasn't a hard guess that if either Sona-Kaichou or Rias-sempai found out I had the [Dragon Bringer], they would try to recruit me or something.

While both of them were Bishoujo's, especially Rias-sempai, I rather liked being human.

Leaving the Academy, I started heading towards the café. Janne wanted to do some more training today, so I was going to oblige her. The map to the Dungeon 'Gathering of the Hyakki Yagyō' had crumbled as soon as Janne and I had returned home, with a message from Bob explaining that he was now too high levelled to go there again.

One measly level… and I have to buy a new map. I want to have at least ten levels on the level of the map to where the Leader of the Hyakki Yagyō lay in wait, and there was no way Janne was going near it either until she was at least my current level.

"Hey, punk!" a loud voice bellowed at me as I passed under the bridge.

I turned around to see some vaguely familiar people glaring at me.

"Umm…have we met before?" I ask in confusion.

This, for some reason, makes the three thugs enormously angry. Hold on…thugs?

Oh!

"Ah. Now I remember. You're the three morons that tried to shake me down for cash a while back." I say with a click of my fingers as I realised who they were.

"Who's a moron, retard!?" one snarled.

"That'd be you." I deadpan, "Now, what do you three idiots want? I may not look like it, but I'm a busy guy and I don't have the time to screw around with you all day."

"Y…you!" the leader snarled.

I was getting bored here, so I checked out their levels.

 **Thug Leader - Level 16**

 **Thug - Level 10**

 **Thug - Level 9**

Evidently, these three had been buffing up. Still, they weren't any threat to me.

"We're here to kick your ass for what ya did to us, bitch boy!" one of the two flunkey thugs sneered at me, showing his black teeth. Eww. Never heard of a toothbrush, I take it?

"Some people don't know how to lose gracefully…" I sigh theatrically, "Tell you what, I won't even use weapons against you…just my fists and feet. Sound good?"

"DIE!" the leader howled as he and his boys started to charge at me.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Dharma Thugs: Beat down the three thugs without using weapons or active skills!**

 **Quest Completion Reward: +200 EXP**

 **Random Close Combat Weapon**

 **Cash**

 **Quest Failure: Humiliation from being beaten by these three chumps.**

 **Accept?**

 **Yes/No**

Heh…why not?

Hitting 'Yes', I set my self in a loose, easy stance and awaited the Three Morons to reach me. The leader, who had the highest level, evidently remembered the smirk on my face as he sent his stooges in first in an obvious attempt to wear me down.

To quote from a film I saw once, Bitch, please!

Flunky #1 performed a really fancy flying kick that looked like it was taken from a Hong Kong action film. I easily dodged it and smacked him in the stomach as he passed by me with my fist.

Meanwhile, Flunky #2 drew a chain from inside his coat and whirled it in the air before wrapping my leg up in it. He tried to pull my leg out from under me, but I was way too strong for him.

"This is how you do it." I say with a smirk. I jerk my leg back hard, yanking the idiot off his feet and landing on the ground with a thud and an 'Ow!'

The two flunkies struggle to their feet struggle to their feet, one holding his stomach where I struck him while the other grabbed his bleeding nose from when he had faceplanted on the concrete road.

"Whenever you are ready, moron brothers." I say in a slow drawl.

Seriously, just where were their points allocated? They were slow, weak and took a hit like a soggy sugar cube. Even when I had been at their Level, I hadn't been as wimpy as these two idiots.

"Bastard!" they yelled as they donned knuckledusters. Huh…experienced brawlers then. Wonder why they never used this stuff last time?

 **You sucker punched them, as I recall.**

I didn't even have you at the time!

I looked over the combat logs.

…

Let's just get back to the ass kicking.

Before the two idiots could do more than take one-step forwards, I reached over to them and smacked they heads together.

 **You have inflicted the 'Stunned' Status!**

 **Targets unable to move for 30 seconds!**

Hell yeah!

With that, I punched and kicked the two weaker thugs into submission. Moving on from their twitching and unconscious bodies, I confronted the Thug Leader, who looked rather pale at how easily I had taken his boys down.

"You…you ain't human!" he babbled as he shakily drew a tantō from his jacket, "Back off or my Aniki'll kick your ass!"

 **Seriously? He was going for that line?**

"If your 'Aniki' is anything like you, he shouldn't be too much trouble." I replied cockily.

"Punk! Ya don't know who yer messin' wit!" the Thug Leader growled, "My Aniki is the leader of five Yakuza groups and dozens of street gangs! Ya think ya can beat all of 'em?!"

"Hmmmm…probably." I said with a shrug, "If they're all as weak as you are, then definitely."

 **Taunt Activated!**

"You little SHITBAG!" the man screamed and charged me in the classic thrusting stance of the Yakuza, right shoulder forward, both hands on the handle of the blade, drawn back to the left hip.

Sheesh. This guy totally got his technique from some kinda Yakuza film and boy did it suck.

With plenty of time, I sidestepped his charge and tripped him up, sending the man sprawling to the ground and his tantō flying into the air to clatter onto the concrete nearby.

"Argh!" the Thug Leader was nothing if not persistent, I had to give him that. With a growl of anger, he leapt to his feet and charged at me with a wild look in his eyes. Guess the fall unhinged something inside him.

I met him punch for punch and kick for kick, but the pain of each of his punches, for some reason, wasn't all that painful. It felt more like somebody was poking my face than a full-on punch.

Whereas my blows made the Thug Leader roar and grunt in agony each and every time. The last time I'd faced this guy, I'd needed my trusty crowbar to whack him over the head, but now, as he teetered unsteadily on his feet, I had beaten him with just a half-dozen punches and kicks.

I pushed him over with one finger and watched him collapse with a groan. A quick check of my HP told me I'd barely lost a hundred HP in that little clash.

 **Congratulations!**

 **Dharma Thugs: You wiped the floor with the three Thugs!**

 **Quest Completion Reward: +200 EXP**

 **Close Combat Weapon: Brass Knuckles**

 **+1500 Yen**

 **[Freestyle Brawling] has levelled up! 8-10!**

"Well now…time to go to work." I hummed as I turned to head off.

"You…you will pay for this!" the Thug Leader hissed.

"Oh shut up!" I said in irritation before driving my heel into the man's solar plexus, "What do you think you are, some kinda Archenemy?! Jeez…"

So off I walked.

 **[That was rather easy for a quest.]** Ddraig observed.

It was, wasn't it? I had a bad feeling about this, which grew as I drew closer to the café. A couple of rough looking guys in black suits were loitering outside the café's door.

 **Yakuza Enforcer - Level 21**

 **Yakuza Grunt - Level 17**

"You Issei Hyodou?" the Enforcer asked without preamble when he noticed I was there. He was a tough looking man with a scar on his left cheek and a hardened look on his face.

"Yes…who are you two and why are you here?" I asked, "You're obviously not customers."

"I represent Gotōryū (Five Head Dragon), the local alliance of Yakuza." the man replied, "We are not very happy that you chose to interfere in the operations of one of our associates and have come to issue a warning. Back off and shut down, or your woman will pay the price."

"Woman…? Janne! Bastards!" I snarled. That was why they were here! They had kidnapped Janne and these stooges were left behind to deliver a message! I'll bet those three morons were deliberately put in my way so I couldn't interfere in the kidnapping!

 **[Show them why you don't mess with the Sekiryūtei, Partner!]** Ddraig growled.

I slammed a fist into the Yakuza Grunt's stomach, bending him over, before slamming an elbow into his back, making the man faceplant with a pained 'woof' of expelled air and some blood even spurted from his mouth.

I paid him no mind as I whirled around to confront the Enforcer, who looked at me with eyes wide. Clearly, he expected me to kowtow to him like a bitch or something.

Guess again, jackass!

"You have one chance to tell me where you took Janne before I go to town on you." I said coldly. I could feel the [Dragon Bringer] throb in my arm, practically begging to be released on this bastard, "After that, I'll ask one more time before I string you up by your nuts in front of the local Kōban (Police Box). Your choice, trash."

Kidnapping an innocent girl was far beyond the pale, in my opinion. Especially Janne, who was someone special to me. These people would receive no mercy from me when I caught up to them.

"I was going to tell you anyway." the man replied evenly. Even while clearly rattled, he maintained his calm, which earned him some begrudging respect from me as he held out a scrap of paper, "She's at this address. Try and beat all of the Gotōryū if you can. The place is a fortress."

"I'll be fine." I replied in a deadly tone, not even pretending to conceal my anger, "YOU on the other hand…"

In short order, I kicked the crap out of the bastard and tied him and his pal up. Equipping my mana-enhanced clothes, I barely noticed the quest notification box as I raged at the cowards who had kidnapped Janne.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Rescue the Imprisoned Knight-Princess!: Janne has been kidnapped by the Gotōryū, the local Yakuza Alliance, as revenge for you defending yourself from three low-level thugs belonging to their organisation. Break into their stronghold, kick the crap out of them and take back your waitress/Knight/love interest!**

 **Quest Completion Reward: 7500 EXP**

 **Mystery Prize**

 **20000 Yen**

 **Random Piece of Equipment**

 **Quest Failure: Death**

 **Death of Janne Arc**

 **Accept?**

 **Yes/No**

Bastards!

I slammed my finger down on the 'Yes' Button and glanced at the address the Enforcer had provided to me. It was in a rough part of town and even the police patrolled with one hand on their guns there.

It didn't matter to me though. I was going to get Janne back, and heaven help the fool who stood between me and her.

Before going off half-cocked though, I paid a quick trip to Abyss Auction and bought several HP Potions and MP Potions, as well as a Kevlar vest, which I rapidly enhanced with mana and equipped it under my regular clothes once it arrived.

Then, I checked out the skill books I got the previous day from the Mezuki, ignoring the Summon: Onibidama skill book as those kinds of skills had to be levelled before they were of any use. I was looking for a skill that might be useful against the Yakuza.

There were three of the skill books. I picked up the first book.

 **You have acquired the 'Basic Senjutsu' Skill Book.**

 **Do you want to learn this?**

 **Yes/No**

As cool as that would be, I doubted the basic skills of Senjutsu would be of any use on this occasion. On to the next book after I hit 'No'.

 **You have acquired the 'Quick Draw' Skill Book.**

 **Do you want to learn this?**

 **Yes/No**

Might as well. At the very least, it couldn't weaken my skills, so I hit 'Yes'.

 **Congratulations! You have gained a new skill.**

 **Quick Draw - Level MAX**

 **Want to get the drop on your enemies? Now you can! With this skill, you just have to wish for something to be equipped and it will be! No more lengthy verbal commands.**

 **Also permits a 20% faster speed when drawing a weapon from a scabbard or holster.**

Useful. Really, really useful! Damn, now for the last one.

 **You have acquired the 'Iron Skin' Skill Book.**

 **Do you wish to learn this?**

 **Yes/No**

Sounds cool. 'Yes' I would say.

When I hit 'Yes' a window came up.

 **You require a VIT of 50 to learn this skill.**

Damn. Well, easily solved. I opened my status window and dropped the single point in that I needed to reach fifty, which prompted yet another couple of windows to pop open.

 **By putting your VIT past Level 50, you have gained a new skill.**

 **Supernatural Resilience - (Passive) - Level MAX**

 **As someone exposed to the supernatural in large doses, you have gained greater resilience to mundane attacks, wading through them like they aren't even there and regenerating prematurely quickly from any that make it past your guard.**

 **All locations gain a natural armour rating of 100.**

 **-Regen Rate Boosted by 25% when wounded by non-magical attacks.**

OK. Useful.

 **As a result of the Draconic Heritage of your Sacred Gear and your supernatural resilience, you have learned a new skill.**

 **Draconic Endurance - (Passive) - Level MAX**

 **Dragons are massive creatures, with stamina and endurance to match. You have gained a portion of this as a result of your connection to a Dragon-type Sacred Gear.**

 **A permanent 5% to VIT.**

 **A permanent 5% to HP Regen.**

 **A permanent 5% increase to physical defence.**

Holy Hell on a pogo stick! Ddraig, are you seeing this?!

 **[That I am.]** The Crimson Dragon Emperor replied, **[Not bad. You've only gained about 1% of my full endurance though.]**

…just how the hell did someone put you in the [Boosted Gear] anyway?!

 **[Learn the skill and get your concubine back now, history lesson later.]** Ddraig replied.

Oh. Right.

...Wait a minute she's not my concubine!

I again pressed the 'Yes' button when I picked up the Iron Skin Skill Book, which produced the expected results.

 **Congratulations! You have gained a new skill.**

 **Iron Skin - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **Places a thin layer of mana over your skin that acts like armour. Doesn't cover the eyes due to the frequent movement of the eyelids.**

 **Adds +100 armour to all locations not excluded (see above).**

 **10 MP/Per Minute**

OK. This would be useful against the Yakuza. I'd bet a hundred-thousand yen that at least some of them had handguns or guns of some description. Hell, I'd be surprised if they didn't have some gunmen.

Time to go.

* * *

"That…is one big-ass fortress." I deadpanned to myself and the voices in my head.

The place was an old packing plant of some kind, complete with a large courtyard, which had been abandoned for some time before being occupied by the Yakuza. Clearly, this was somewhere they had prepared to act solely as a place to keep Janne and act as a trap for me.

 **You know, you should kinda feel honoured. Yakuza don't usually go to this kind of length for any idiot who stands up to them.**

Not helping! Besides, I didn't stand up to them, I acted in legitimate self-defence!

 **Like they care.**

With a thought, I equipped the Brass Knuckles, which added a nice little whack to my [Freestyle Brawling], and then approached the only door around the place that wasn't boarded up (I'd checked) and kicked it down after activating [Iron Skin].

I stepped into the courtyard and glared around. There were about twenty Yakuza Grunts and ten Yakuza Enforcers arrayed against him. Standing on a platform above the rest was a man in a grey and black pinstriped suit, with slicked back black hair and a disdainful expression on his face.

Observe, you bastard!

 **Arata Nue - Level 35**

 **[Tyrant Leader of the Gotōryū]**

 **A merciless and heartless man, he is the head of the Gotōryū Yakuza Alliance, although it is an Alliance in name only, as he controls everyone in it with an iron fist. There is little to no action he will not do in order to accomplish his goals, regardless of the morality or legality of those actions. He despises disrespect, whether it was intended or not. There is something unnatural about him that sets most people on edge.**

So…this was the person responsible for kidnapping Janne.

Dead man. Dead man walking over here, and he doesn't even know it.

Next to him was a black haired girl with a magenta stripe in her hair. She wore a green and black cheongsam decorated with golden lotus flowers and a pair of green high-heels. At her back was a pair of holstered guns of some kind.

Observe!

 **Lie Rin - Level 26**

 **[Gundancer]**

 **The Second-in-Command of the Gotōryū Alliance, who is widely respected by those under her command. She is a strong will girl who suffers from sleep deprivation. Her signature Duel-SMG shooting style once slew thirty men at once. She dislikes being under Nue's command, but fears his wrath too much to do anything about it.**

Great. A dick for a boss and a competent subordinate. Just perfect.

"Are you the hooligan who dared to stand against my men?" Nue asked in a very contemptuous manner. He pissed me off even more with every word.

"I beat the shit out of your boy toys, if that's what you mean." I growled back, "Release my employee now and I won't hurt you…too much."

"Ohhhh?" Nue sneered, "The maggot thinks he can actually win? Isn't that cute. Sorry to say that you will die for not only assaulting my men, but for your disrespectful attitude towards me."

"Can the dramatic exposition, you hack!" I roar, "Either fuck off or get your ass down here so I can rip you apart myself you shithead!"

The flicker of rage that he quickly hid gave me the cold satisfaction of knowing I was getting to him. Cocky bastard had probably never been insulted like that.

"I think…not." Nue stated smoothly, "You have to climb over the bodies of my men before you can even think about facing me. Men, take out the trash."

He and Lie Rin turned and walked away, much to my fury. Ohhhh…they were gonna get seriously messed up for that.

I waded into the thirty-man reception committee with a vengeance. I'm fairly sure I broke a couple of their bones with my blows, but I didn't really care. They deserved it, kidnapping lowlifes.

 **Special Challenge: You will be assailed by four waves of successfully stronger and more numerous foes! Beat them all to earn a prize!**

Bob, this is NOT the time!

 **Janne won't be harmed by these guys. Your [Gamer] interface is preventing that Nue bastard from even considering it until you reach him. Zelretch is a bastard, but he isn't that bad.**

If she is harmed, I will throw you down a toilet, track down that old bastard Zelretch and shove him down there with you.

A loud gong sounded the first wave, full of regular Thugs and one Thug Leader…the same one I had beaten down not half an hour ago…to charge out of some doors in the side of the building.

"Get the bastard!" he roared.

In no mood to show off, I punched my way through the wave of Thugs, only holding back enough to not kill them. This was still strong enough to send them flying and embed them into and through some of the thinner walls.

The Thug Leader was the last man standing, as I had deliberately left the bastard for last. He had helped pull off the entire thing. If he hadn't delayed me, I might have arrived in time to stop them from kidnapping Janne.

Payback time.

"Damn you!" the man shrieked as I slowly strode over to him, "Just fuckin' die already!"

He had once more upgraded his weapon, from a tantō to a full-blown katana. Now he drew it from its sheath, I could see the play of mana on the blade.

Observe!

 **Ōgonkai - Attack Power 300 (Unaltered)**

 **A blade forged by a greedy blacksmith for an even greedier samurai. The more money you possess, the more powerful this blade becomes.**

 **1 Yen = 1 Attack Power Point**

 **Current additional Attack Power: 500**

Troublesome. He was actually a credible threat with that sword. I gestured and Yukimaru and Himari appeared in my hands.

Yukimaru you all know about, but Himari was the blade I had just gotten from the Mezuki yesterday. It was a Kodachi, a sword longer than a wakizashi but shorter than a katana, with a red wrapped hilt and a tsuba decorated with ball-like designs.

 **Himari - Attack Power 350**

 **A blade forged with the willingly gifted blood of a Bakeneko, this sword shares the name of that Ayakashi. Holding true to the Kodachi's other name of Shield Sword, it excels at defence and provides the wielder with the [Parry] Skill (Level 1) while equipped.**

 **There is a 5% chance of the user learning the [Parry] Skill when a successful [Parry] is made.**

"What the…where'd you get those swords?!" the Thug Leader cried out in a panic.

"That isn't something you should be concerned about." I said darkly, "Besides…you drew first, so anything that happens from this point forwards is because of you."

With that, I charged at him, letting my blades do the talking. The man parried and blocked frantically, only succeeding half the time and was soon covered in bleeding cuts. I was disgusted. This pathetic excuse for a human was partially responsible for Janne being kidnapped. How the hell did she lose to losers like this?

 **[An ambush?]** Ddraig suggested.

Maybe, but Janne's a Knight. She wouldn't have lost that easily, and there was no damage to the café. So what the hell happened?

I absently cut the hand that the Thug Leader held his blade in and he dropped it with a girlish shriek of pain.

"You are a pathetic waste of space." I informed him icily, "Piss off and don't come back. If you do..." I grabbed him by the shirt and gave him my most menacing and darkest stare I could muster. **"...I'll gut you and hang you up from your entrails."**

"Heeeeeee!" after I had let go of him, he shrieked and fled out of the door I had kicked in.

Picking up the sword Ōgonkai, I sheathed it and stored it in my inventory before unequipping my own swords. Unless the Yakuza started getting serious, I wouldn't need them.

The next two waves of enemies were Grunts, followed by Enforcers. None of them were all that hard and each blow I dealt out, rather than calming me down, conversely made me all the more furious. I had to have ploughed through more than 80 of these assholes by now.

 **You have received the Title 'Crazy 88' for defeating 88 enemies in less than ten minutes!**

Seriously Bob! Not the time!

The last wave was a veritable ravening horde of both Grunts and Enforcers, leaded by four Yakuza Gang Leaders, each of which was Level 27. These were the only Yakuza armed with guns and they were each equipped differently. One had a combat shotgun, one had a revolver, one had a handgun and the last…had an AK-47.

Thankfully, my [Supernatural Resilience] and [Iron Skin] skills were enough to allow me to weather the storm of bullets for me to disarm them and crush the guns in my hands.

After that, it was a simple case of pummelling the snot out of them afterwards. I started uppercutting and kicking them into the air, each flight accompanied by a shriek of pain and fear.

Pretty soon, they came back down to earth with a loud series of thumps accompanied by cries of pain. And yet still they came! Seriously, they're outmatched here, even with all their numbers, and they still attack me?!

 **[This isn't natural.]** Ddraig opined, **[Crushing guns in your hands should have sent them scurrying, sending some of them flying into the air should have made them crap themselves, yet they're charging forwards like golems.]**

I took a look at their eyes as I stepped back to take a breather for a moment. They were terrified and I could tell they desperately didn't want to be here, but I could also see that part of their terror was keeping them from running as well.

They feared their leader as much as they feared him.

"Kill him! Kill him now or Nue-sama will kill us!" one Enforcer yelled frantically, making the remaining Yakuza roar and charge at me with renewed determination.

"I don't have the time for this bullshit!" I gritted my teeth as I growled. I decide that while this was all very fine and dandy for training, it's time, perhaps, to get serious.

Turning my fingernails into the talons of a dragon, I charge them with [Mana Burst] before swiping them in the direction of the charging Yakuza. If my experience with the [Flying Dragon Wave] holds true here…

As I hoped, five small crimson crescents of mana leapt from my hand and sent half a dozen Yakuza flying at once. It was just like the Blades of Blood attack that Inuyasha uses!

 **Congratulation! You have gained a new skill!**

 **Flying Dragon Talon Blades - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **A claw version of the [Flying Dragon Wave], this technique is weak, but versatile. The damage is determined by the level of [Freestyle Brawling], [Mana Burst] and [Mana Affinity].**

 **Permanent Additional Effect: A the possessor of the Boosted Gear, your Draconic Affinity increases the damage dealt by this attack by 10% and decreases the Mana Cost by 10%.**

Nice.

I start shooting off my [Talon Blades], using both hands to send the blades out to strike the Yakuza, who were dumbfounded by this. A Grunt was beaten by three or four of these blades, while an Enforcer usually required a dozen or so before they fell.

Eventually, at long last, I was the last man standing, although I was breathing heavily and almost completely out of MP. As I chugged down a MP Potion to restore it, a couple of windows popped open.

 **Congratulations! You have earned the title 'Army of One' for defeating a small army of enemies single handedly! You receive a permanent +2 bonus to LUC!**

 **You have overcome the four waves of Yakuza! You receive two Accessories X2 'Brotherhood Rings' as a prize!**

 **Brotherhood Ring - Accessory**

 **A ring that symbolises a shared experience and trust in another person. Must be worn by two separate people. As long as those who wear this ring are within a certain distance of each other, they receive a +1 bonus to all stats.**

 **You have defeated 30 Thugs, 1 Thug Leader, 55 Yakuza Grunts, 70 Yakuza Enforcers and 4 Yakuza Gang Leaders!**

 **You earn 2000 EXP!**

 **Loot pickup is deferred until the completion of the mission.**

 **[Freestyle Brawling] has levelled up! 10-14!**

 **[Flying Dragon Talon Blades] has levelled up! 1-4!**

 **[Duel Wield] has levelled up! 4-6!**

Handy.

Now…where to go? I could follow the same route that bastard took, but I was willing to be that he had a few nasty surprises in store for me if I went that way.

Whatever. I'd break through whatever he threw at me, then he'd learn why you never make a dragon angry!

 **[Damn right.]** Ddraig agreed, **[Taking a dragon's companion or mate is the next best thing to suicide.]**

She isn't my mate! She's my friend and employee!

 **Keep telling yourself that dude, That's what all of you dense motherfuckers say.**

Ah, whatever. Let's go bust some heads!

I leapt up to the platform where Nue had stood and followed the bridge at the back to the set of double doors that barred my way.

"Knock-knock, asshole!" I snarled and kicked the doors off their hinges. Charging into the corridor after them almost immediately, was confronted by a ten-man squad of Yakuza armed with handguns.

 **Yakuza Elite: Gunman - Level 30**

Having no time to waste with them, I was rather brutal about putting them down, hitting them so hard that they literally flew down the corridor and through the other door. Hardly any of them got a shot off and those that did barely fazed me. Thank kami for [Supernatural Resilience]!

As I entered the room at the end of the corridor, yet another squad of Yakuza Elite, this time armed with swords, confronted me. A few meters behind them, sitting on a throne-like chair was Arata Nue. Next to him was Lie Rei and…

"Janne!" I yelled. The Knight of Arc has several bruises on her face, possibly from the initial attack. She was bound with chains at her ankles and wrists, with a metal collar attached to a ring on the floor by a short chain, forcing her to kneel at the bastard's feet. Her waitress outfit was ripped and bloody, so it could be assumed she did not go down without a fight.

"Issei!" she shouted, before Nue kicked her in the ribs.

"You MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!" I shouted.

"Huh…so you were able to beat all of my men then?" Nue asked disinterestedly, looking to the world as if he was asking about the results of a horse race or something, "Tch. Useless humans."

…wait…humans?

"You…you're not human then?" I asked.

"Heh…defeat my remaining men and you'll find out." the man chuckled humourlessly, "Rin, execute him."

"Hai, Nue-sama." Rin replied with a bow. She drew her weapons from their holsters and I was puzzled by their appearance. They looked like heavily modified handguns, with extra-long magazines and reinforced barrels, as well as each having a large curved blade just underneath the barrel.

 **[Looks like it's optimised for close combat as well as mid range.]** Ddraig said, sounding slightly impressed.

Looks like bare hands aren't going to be enough to take cared of these guys. Time to bring out my swords again.

In a flash, Yukimaru and Himari appeared in my hands, earning me a raised eyebrow from Nue and a startled look from Lie Rin.

"Ddraig, come on out!" I growl.

 **[Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the Status effect 'Boost!' Your Power has been doubled!**

My arm shifted into its crimson-scaled form, with the single emerald green gem on the back of my hand.

"So…you are this generation's Sekiryuutei?" Nue asked slowly, "Interesting…"

"Sekiryuutei?" Lie Rin asked in confusion.

"Ah…as a normal human you wouldn't know…" Nue said in a board tone, "During the Great War between the Three Factions of Heaven, the Underworld and the Grigori, two dragons interfered in the battle. One large red dragon and one large white dragon. When they were caught by stray fire from the battle, they attacked all three factions for interfering in their fight."

…seriously? Ddraig, this story makes you sound like a delinquent.

"They inflicted a large amount of damage on the massed armies of the Three Factions before being defeated. Their power and souls were sealed into two Sacred Gears. The Crimson Dragon Emperor, Ddraig the Welsh Dragon, was sealed within the [Boosted Gear], while the White Dragon Emperor, Albion the Vanishing Dragon, was sealed within the [Divine Dividing]." Nue finished, still sounding like he didn't give a fuck about it, "To this day, each time the wielders of the two Sacred Gears have met, they have fought, continuing the battle of the sealed dragons."

"So this guy has the power of such a powerful being inside of him?" Lie Rin asked in disbelief.

 **[I am indeed here.]** Ddraig addressed them, **[Underestimate my partner as much as you like. He'll send you to hell if you do though.]**

Nue's expression twitched slightly before he replied, "I doubt that. Gauntlet of the Red Dragon Emperor or not, there is no way he could have any great degree of mastery of it at his age."

 **[Heh…you are arrogant enough to be a High-Class Devil.]** Ddraig chuckled, **[Go wild on him partner. Teach him why the wrath of the Sekiryuutei isn't to be risked lightly!]**

As Ddraig said that, my arm started to glow crimson, it shifted, growing more muscular, and a second green gem appeared just before the elbow. White tattoo-like Celtic knot marks appeared on the knuckles and just after the new green gem.

 **[Dragon Bringer: Second Liberation!]**

 **Congratulations! Your relationship with Ddraig has advanced to Level 2! Dragon Bringer Gift Form unlocked! Skill 'Boosted Gear: Gift!' unlocked! Skill 'Transfer!' unlocked! Skill 'Explosion!' unlocked!**

"Oh, you are in so much trouble!" I snarl as I flex my new and improved arm, "You ten have one chance to stand aside before I kill you. Choose. Life or Death?"

The ten yakuza Elites didn't even hesitate before charging in, swords raised to attack.

"Death it is then." I growled, before unleashing a [Flying Dragon Wave] at them, shattering two of their swords and knocking the wielders sprawling. The rest charged on and met me blade to blade. I slashed parried and thrust with both swords, and, if I do say so, wove quite the web of steel.

Himari seemed to know exactly when someone was going to attack me and moved accordingly. I sent my thanks to the dead Mezuki for leaving it to me.

In short order, the ten men were sprawled on the floor. They weren't dead, contrary to my threat. I had been trying to make the idiots get out of the way by making that threat, but clearly, their fear of this man trumped that.

I had only taken a single step forwards when a heel struck me in the gut. If you haven't been kicked in the gut by high-heels before, let me advise you to avoid it, as it hurts like you wouldn't believe, even through my armour.

Lie Rin withdrew her leg and pointed her guns at me, attempting to shoot me from point-blank range. I smacked her guns up with Himari just before she squeezed the triggers, although the wall wasn't very happy, I'm sure, at being peppered with a burst of bullets.

I counterattacked with a stab from Yukimaru that the girl -who was almost certainly Chinese with that name- danced out of the way to avoid before trying to cut my arm off with the blades on the bottom of her weapons.

Whipping around like a contortionist, I deliver a kick to her side that sent her flying at the same time as ensuring my only remaining original arm wasn't cut off.

She recovered in midair enough to send another burst of SMG fire at me, which I dodged with a quick application of [Mana Burst] to my legs. I leapt to the wall and kicked off almost instantly, arcing towards the surprised woman like an arrow from a crossbow.

She blocked Yukimaru when we clashed in midair with one gun while swinging the other one in an arc to try and sever my [Dragon Booster] arm, which I blocked with Himari.

As we kicked off from one another, I had to give her credit. A regular human keeping up with me was pretty damn hard to do.

"How are you moving so fast? I can't feel you using any Mana." I say as we both land.

"I use Ki." she replied, "Your power is dangerous and you cannot defeat me."

"Is that a fact?" I say with a grin, "I'll just have to prove you wrong on that front."

 **[Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the status effect 'Boost!' Your Power has doubled**!

Acting swiftly, I sent a [Flying Dragon Wave] at her to take up act as a distraction, then [Mana Burst] behind it. As expected, she blazed away at the crimson crescent and dispelled it with a withering hail of fire.

Which meant she was caught completely flatfooted when I appeared from behind it. She recovered almost insanely fast though and stated blazing away at me with those damn SMG's. I tanked the lot in order to get close to her and sliced at her with both my swords.

She parried them with both of her own blades, but clearly struggled against the pressure I was putting on her.

"Give up!" I say as I force her back, inch by inch, "You can't beat me!"

"You keep what you kill!" she hissed, "That's how it works in this Alliance. He killed my boss, I and every man in the Gotōryū are his to do with as he pleases. I can no more back down than I could stop breathing."

"I see." I said. I didn't really see. What a messed up rule. "In which case, I'll have to put you down for a while. I don't really like fighting girls, but you are too strong to take it easy against."

With that, I took a leaf out of her book and kicked her in the gut, sending her flying back into the wall with an "OOOPPHH!" of expelled air.

Rin recovered well enough to raise her weapons again and sent another stream of bullets at me. What a stubborn opponent!

I dodged around the bullets before slamming Yukimaru down on one of her SMG blades, swiftly followed by Himari slamming on top of Yukimaru.

With a loud metallic crack, two-thirds of the green blade fell away. Rin dodged away on automatic, her face full of disbelief that her weapon could have been broken by anything.

 **Congratulations! You have upgraded a skill! [Weapon Break] has evolved!**

 **[Shadow Cross] - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **A skill only usable by using the [Duel Wielding] Skill while equipped with bladed weapons. By striking the target weapon in a vulnerable point with one blade and then hammered by the other, the chances of a successful weapon break increase dramatically.**

 **Chance of success: 15%**

Heh…Shinomori Aoshi, eat your heart out.

"My…my weapons are the next best thing to unbreakable…how…?" Rin was shocked at my achievement and was in no state to continue attacking me, so I did the obvious thing…I struck her in the solar plexus with the butt of my sword hard enough to knock her unconscious.

A slow clap came from Nue, who looked rather amused by my actions.

"Well now, aren't you a nice guy?" he asked sarcastically, "Those guns are her pride and joy, you know. At least they were before you broke them. She'll be after you with a vengeance once she comes around…not that you'll be around for her to hunt."

Seriously? I kick the asses of every man under his command, including his Second-in-Command, and he thinks he can beat me as easily as one, two, and three?

"Ummm…didn't I just beat every one of your minions?" I point out, "If nothing else, you should be treating this a bit more seriously."

"Why should I? All you have done is squash some insects." Nue snorted in contempt, "I swear, humans are so easy to kill. Compared to a being such as myself, you are all so WEAK!"

As he spoke, a yellow aura surrounded him before lightning started dancing over his body. Raising one hand at me, a ball of blue lightning formed.

"Vanish, trash." he said coldly before firing it at me.

Following the instincts given to me by Himari's [Parry] skill, I snap the sword up and, after a quick coating of mana, smashed the lightning ball out of the air and into a nearby wall.

I did get shocked, losing about three-hundred HP. From a deflected attack. I made a note to not stand still from now on.

"An interesting trick, human." the Yakuza Boss said with a sneer, "Let's see if lightning strikes twice, shall we?"

 **He's as bad with puns as you are with insults.**

Bob, shush. Ass kicking in progress here.

I sent a [Flying Dragon Wave] at him with Himari at the same time he fires another lightning ball at me. The two collide in midair and destroy each other in an explosion of crimson energy and blue lightning.

"Oh? That's another trick of yours isn't it?" Nue said with a larger sneer, "No matter how many tricks you have, they won't do you a shit against me now that I know about them."

"Right, fine, whatever." I said, already tired of him monologuing at me, "Are you going to talk or are you going to grow a pair and fight me?"

Nue's face darkened at this. "You…you dare address me like that? You dare call me a coward?!"

"Considering that you've done nothing but hide behind your men this entire time…yeah…I think 'coward' is a pretty good description of you." I reply in mock seriousness.

"You will regret speaking to me is such a way." Nue threatened darkly, "As a result of how much you have irritated me, I will assume my real form and slay you in that. Know the proof of your powerlessness!"

In a flash of light, Arata Nue was gone. In his place was a tall man in old-fashioned armour and clothes, bearing a long pike with the blade section shaped like a bolt of lightning.

Observe!

 **Raigekijin - Attack Power 1500**

 **A treasure weapon of the Raijin Yōkai, this mystical weapon is said to be a thousand bolts of lightning forged into one form by the Raijin-no-Kami. It vastly increases the user's ability to manipulate lightning and can cut through regular steel and even sword steel like a hot knife through butter.**

Hell. This wasn't good.

"A Raijin Yōkai? Never heard of one of you." I say aloud.

"Humph…we are thunder and lightning personified." Nue stated contemptfully, "I am the first to descend here in hundreds of your human years. I am only killing time here, hoping to slake my need to alleviate my boredom, before returning to my home. This has been the most amusing event to occur in the last decade and you are still boring me."

"People's lives are not toys for you to play with, you overcharged light bulb!" I snarl before using [Mana Burst] to leap at him, swords drawn back to attack, when he vanishes in a flash of blue light.

What the hell?!

 **[Danger Sense] Tingling!**

I stop my forward motion by stabbing my swords into the ground not a moment too soon, as a bolt of lightning smashes down not two feet away from me.

Whirling around, I see Nue, a sadistic smile on his face, bring down his weapon on me before I could so much as raise a weapon to defend myself. I flung myself back, but I was too late…the blade of the Raigekijin cleaving through my [Iron Skin] as if it wasn't there, before the tip cut through the skin on my forehead and dragged down to my left eye, which was pierced and destroyed by the weapon.

"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHH!" I bellowed as the pain hit me. My eye…my eye!

 **[Gamer's Mind] Activated!**

My rising panic and fear was quelled by the [Gamer's Mind], but it really fucking hurt! How the hell was I going to explain this to my parents?! This bastard just destroyed my eye!

"Issei!" Janne screamed in fear and fought her bonds frantically.

 **[Partner, use [Draconic Shift] to replace your eye with mine.]** Ddraig told me, **[You'll have to use [Gift] to give it enough power to work with though.]**

I stabbed Himari into the ground and covered my rapidly bleeding eye socket with my dragon arm.

"[Boosted Gear Gift]!" I declared, making the two green gems light up on my arm, "[Draconic Shift!]"

 **[Transfer!]**

The pain that had only just started to descent to the level of an aching throb suddenly redoubled as [Draconic Shift] rebuilt my eye into that of a dragon. It felt like a thousand needles were being stabbed into what was left of my eye. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I glared at Nue, who looked shocked at the vivid green glow emerging from my covered eye socket.

"What manner of foul sorcery is this?" he snapped, "Not even the strongest of beings can regenerate a lost eye! Odin couldn't even do that!"

Odin? The All-Father of the Norse Faction? Oh yeah…he was known as Odin One-Eye, wasn't he? Something about sacrificing his eye for wisdom or something, wasn't it?

After a moment, the pain stopped and I finally opened my new eye. Whoa! What the hell is with all of the auras around everyone?

 **[Combining my eye and your Mana to create it has allowed you to see a person's aura, their life energy in other words.]** Ddraig told me.

 **Because of damage, you have been forced to rebuild your left eye with [Draconic Shift]! You now possess a new skill as a result!**

 **[Eye of the One-eyed Dragon] - Level MAX**

 **An eye created by combining the skill of [Draconic Shift] with [Boosted Gear Gift] and [Mana Burst]. This permanently replaces your left eye with the same eye as a dragon, granting you more line of sight and clarity of vision with that eye. It can be concealed to look like your original eye.**

 **Special Ability - Aura Reading: While the eye is in dragon mode, you can read the auras of the people around you. As you learn more about this ability, the description will grow.**

Useful, but I have more important things to take care of right now…like kicking this bastard ass for kidnapping Janne and for taking my eye!

 **[Reset!]**

 **You have expended all the power of the 'Boost!' status! All cumulative 'Boost!' status effects lost!**

Irritating, but I can manage.

"Now then…where were we?" I ask as I draw Himari out of the ground with my now bloody dragon hand. Both Janne and Nue were gazing at me dumbfounded as I looked at them with my new eye.

I took the time to consider what to do here. This guy could teleport or something…no, he turns into lightning and moves faster than I can see to avoid attacks. Close combat is risky and I only have two ranged attacks.

Note to self, do something about this at some point.

Anyway, I had no idea what kind of skills this guy had other than shooting lightning balls and teleporting, but I doubted he was any slouch with that oversized toothpick of his.

"[Double Flying Dragon Wave!]" I snarled and sent the attacks flying at Nue. I then used [Mana Burst] to jump around the room so he would have a harder time pulling that damn teleportation move on me.

"The same trick won't work on me twice!" Nue snarled, recovering from his shock and pointing his Raigekijin at the incoming attacks, "Raihō (Lightning Cannon)!"

A massive bolt of lightning erupted from his weapon and slammed into the two [Flying Dragon Waves]. One disintegrated on impact, but the other ploughed through the attack and smashed into Nue with a small explosion.

Ohhhh…I get it…the first time I used [Flying Dragon Wave] against him, I used Himari to do it. The one that survived this time was the attack from Yukimaru, which gives the [Flying Dragon Wave] the ability to ignore the first projectile to intercept it. Score.

"What is going on here?!" Nue hissed, "I'm a pureblood Raijin! Descended from the legendary Thunder Brothers! How could the attack of a mere human damage me like this!?"

Indeed, he looked quite a mess. His clothes were torn and singed and his armour was blackened, with a large diagonal score across the centre where my attack had struck him. The edges of the rent were crumbling, which was odd.

He wasn't bleeding though. Damn, that was some tough armour, even if it was now falling to pieces.

 **Your attack must have reduced the durability of his armour to almost nothing.**

Huh…well let's get rid of it all so the bastard bleeds!

I sent off four more [Flying Dragon Waves], alternating between using Yukimaru and Himari so Nue would get confused about why some of them he could blast and some of them he couldn't.

"Damn you!" Nue yelled, "Raikō! (Lightning Light!)"

A bright blue light filled the room. It was so bright I almost went blind! I couldn't see out of my human eye, but a secondary lid dropped down over my dragon eye, allowing me to see perfectly fine. How useful!

Nue, confident that I was now blinded by his little lightshow, was sauntering over to me with a very smug look on his face. Ohhhh, I really wanted to know that smug grin off his face!

Instead, I played the act that I can't see anything, waving my swords around and calling out for Nue to show himself.

"Miserable fool…I shall execute you for the high crime of sullying my garments!" Nue sneered as he stopped an arms length away from me and drew back his pike to impale me.

Fat chance.

Before he could react, I sank Himari into his gut, cut at his chest with Yukimaru, although he had snapped out of his surprise, and blocked Yukimaru with Raigekijin.

The blade forged with the blood of a Yuki-Onna clashed against the pike forged from a thousand lightning bolts, while the blade forged with the blood of a Bakeneko was driven into Nue's gut, the wound seeping blood.

"Y-You…impudent savage!" Nue snarled at me as he choked on some of his own blood, "How dare you wound me?!"

"That's for kidnapping my waitress, you bastard!" I growl back, "And this is for taking my eye!"

I twisted Himari around and sliced through his body, causing a geyser of blood to erupt from the new wound before I disengaged and retreated a few steps.

 **You have inflicted the status effect 'Haemorrhaging Wound' on your Target! Unless healed, your target will die in: 10 minutes!**

"Gaaahh…!" Nue grunted as he put a hand to his wound, "Y-You…Even I can't regenerate this kind of damage! You've condemned me to death, boy!"

"Serves you right!" I said unflinchingly, "You killed the last boss here to get your position, didn't you?"

"Heh…yeah…I turned that foolish old man into charcoal!" Nue sneered, "But, even if my end is now inevitable…I'm still going to at least drag you down with me! Witness my ultimate technique!"

Raising his weapon to point at the ceiling, he called out, "Rairan! (Lightning Tempest!)"

Literally hundreds of lightning bolts erupted from the Raigekijin and started to swirl around the room. I could feel all the hair on my body standing on end and an immense pressure was starting to build up. This was way too strong to be just to kill me…no, he wouldn't!

"Bastard! You're planning on killing everyone in the building, aren't you?!" I shout as I raise my swords.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Nue cackled, "Why should I care about some humans? As long as I take you down, I could care less!"

Y'know, I'm really getting sick of supernatural beings treating us humans like either cannon fodder or targets.

Let's see here…The lightning bolts are swirling around him and will probably shock me if I go too close, so I can't attack him with my swords…I doubt either of my ranged attacks can get through his defence…OK, let's try something new!

I stab Himari into the ground and open my palm towards Nue.

"What's this? Still trying? Give it up!" Nue sneered, "My Rairan cannot be defeated!"

We'll soon see about that! Ddraig, I'm going to need all you can give me here!

 **[Right!]**

 **[Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the Status effect 'Multiple Boost!' Your power has been doubled twelve times!**

Creating a ball of mana in front of my dragon arm, I focused on building it up as much as I can. Just as the strain gets a bit much, I know I have to attack soon.

"Let's go!" I call to Ddraig.

 **[Explosion!]**

All of the stored power in the [Dragon Bringer] rushed into the ball of mana, making it grow from the size of a grapefruit to the size of a medicine ball in two seconds flat!

Holy hell, this thing looked dangerous!

"You! What have you done?!" Nue yelled, a look of…if not fear, then unease crossing his face.

"Made something to take you out!" I shouted back, "TAKE THIS!"

I punched the ball of energy, sending it straight at Nue, who launched his lightning -all of it!- at the ball of mana. I felt like I was pushing against my left arm with a damn sixteen-wheeler! The pressure was immense, but I kept pushing back.

"Give up!" Nue screamed at me, clearly feeling the strain as well, "Vanish into dust, Sekiryuutei!"

Strangely, the fact that the high and mighty Nue was struggling against me was just the motivation I needed to finally push his stream of massed lightning back.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO TO HELL!" I shout back.

I unleash every point of my MP into powering the ball of crimson mana and it moved forwards, inch by torturous inch until finally, the power of Nue's Rairan was broken.

Like a cork from a bottle, the ball of mana slammed into Nue, who let go of the Raigekijin in pain. He shrieked in agony as he tried to get himself away from the ball, but he was helpless as his body started to dissolve, consumed by my attack.

"I…I can't believe it! Me, of all people…defeated by a human!" he cried.

With that last cry of agony, Arata Nue vanished, utterly consumed by my ball of mana.

The mana ball didn't stop there either. It slammed through the wall and headed into the distance, curving up into the sky before exploding. Oddly enough, I could see through the hole a large green dragon's head made of green sparkles.

What the heck?

 **[Reset!]**

 **You have expended all the power of the 'Boost!' status! All cumulative 'Boost!' status effects lost!**

Where Nue had stood was a cluster of items and money. I just picked most of it up and shoved it in my inventory, including the Raigekijin, but gave a tired grin when I found the key to Janne's cuffs.

Dismissing my [Dragon Bringer] and putting Himari back in my inventory, I walked over to Janne, knelt beside her and unlocked the chain that forced her into a kowtow.

With a sob, Janne threw herself at me and started crying, sobbing into my clothes.

"Eh? Janne? What's wrong?" I ask in concern.

"What's wrong…?! You lost your eye!" Janne yelled almost hysterically, "You almost got killed coming to rescue me!"

"Hey, I have a new one!" I reply soothingly, "And it's even better than the original, so don't worry about it, seriously. You were caught up in this because of me, so I should be the one apologising to you if anything."

Janne shook her head furiously. I sigh at how stubborn she is. Then I unlock her cuffs and manacles and help her to her feet.

"Here, take this." I hand her a Health Potion, "Man, you really got worked over. What happened?"

"I was putting the rubbish out the back when that Chinese bitch jumped me." Janne snarled and pointed at Lie Rin, who was just getting up, wincing at the pain in her chest, "I tried to fight back, but she used some kind of gas on me. These wounds are from that Nue prick kicking me."

"He died too quickly." I said darkly.

"You…you killed him!?" Rin stammered out, a look of disbelief on her face, "Impossible…he killed Godō-sama instantly…!"

This I presumed was the name of the previous head of the Gotōryū Alliance.

"Yeah…? Well he is dead now." I said and pulled out the Raigekijin from my inventory, "Or do you think he let me borrow this?"

"I see." Rin said seriously before bowing, "Issei Hyodou-sama, the Gotōryū Alliance is at your command!"

Eh?

* * *

 **A/N Notes: HAHAHAHAHAHA! Just you wait you pompous douchebags, there's a Dragon in town and he's serious business!**

 **So yeah thank you guys for reading this chapter. Be sure to review, fave or follow!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N Notes: Alright guy's I am back once again, sorry for the wait and enjoy the new chapter of Just Another Gamer.**

 **Disclaimer: Still the same.**

* * *

"…Alright, what's with all the stares?" I was just walking to school like I normally do when I keep noticing a trend. What is this trend that you ask?

People were looking at me, strangely I might add. One of them even winked at me, which was a girl so hallelujah, thank you God!

Oh, wait…he's dead so I can't really say that. Who do I say it to then? Jesus?

Never mind, back on track. They just keep looking at me like as if I was some criminal or ex-convict. Is my hair a bit messy Bob?

… **Dude, go look at a mirror.**

"A-alright?" When I passed by a store I stopped, went in front of it, and just looked at the window in front of me.

The person that I saw in the glass was just a slightly taller guy than I had been, probably 6'0, wearing the Kuoh Academy boys' school uniform. He was wearing an open black blazer and a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with black highlight, his sleeves folded up, showing his bandages and on his hands were black fingerless combat gloves, he wore a red shirt, which hid a muscular figure. He had black pants and wore blue and white sneakers on his feet. The face was slightly average and rugged, his right eye was light brown and his left eye was covered by a black leather eyepatch with a thick band, which bore an orange stripe on its lower part. His hair was brown in the shape of a short crew cut, not as short as a monk's shaven head, but still pretty damn short.

"…Oh yeah, I forgot that I decided to go for a new look!" I smiled at the reflection at which was staring back at me. "I look pretty badass actually, don't you think guys?"

 **I don't know how to say this Issei, but…you look like a white Nick Fury rip-off.**

Shut up, Bob!

 **[By the way, I've been meaning to ask you this partner. What's with the new hair?]** Ddraig asked me.

"Well my hair has been growing long without me noticing, and the fact no one told me there were some kind of two tails behind my head the entire time…so I've decided to cut it to a short, simple style like a crew cut! And besides…" I held my chin with my hand in thought as I stared into the glass a few moments. "Did I increase in height or something?"

 **Wait, you never noticed that? It's been like that ever since you've ranked up!**

Really?! That really explain why Motohama, Matsuda, and everyone else look a bit smaller though. I thought I was going crazy or something!

 **Aren't you already crazy?**

…Touché.

 **[And the eyepatch?]**

My eye may be back, but I've decided to wear an eyepatch juuuust to be on the safe side. Because seriously, with all these guys I've defeated I'm beginning to worry that some other supernatural asshole may go after me just for a "Bounty" I've made for myself. Besides I was told that guy's that wear eyepatches usually have that "mysterious and intimidating" look to them!

… **And where the fuck did you get that shitty idea from?**

…The Internet.

 ***Sigh* Fucking knew it. Oh and hey…**

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Get your head out of your ass and start running! : If you don't move your fucking feet, you're gonna be late, you know that right?**

 **Completion Reward: 300 EXP**

 **Increase Reputation with Sona Sitri**

 **Completion Failure: Decrease of Reputation with Sona Sitri**

 **Punishment: Stay outside of Kuoh until tomorrow**

 **Accept?**

 **Yes/No**

… **You're gonna be late, so chop-chop.**

…I fucking hate you, Bob. You know that right?

When I pressed the yes button, I started to run the fuck out of my legs as fast as I can.

* * *

"Phew, made it!" I plopped down to my chair in exhaustion, feeling satisfied with myself.

"Um…hey." I heard someone call out to me and I looked around, until I saw to my right a black haired girl who was looking at me, with an expression I thought was of curiosity and…confusion?

"You shouldn't be sitting there, that's one of the perverted trio's seats."

Urgh…

"Uh, I know that…because I'm Issei Hyoudou." I replied bluntly.

"EEEEHHHH!?" the girl yelped, "You're The Oppai Baka?! No way!"

Tch. I really have to do something about that name.

"That hurts you know…I haven't even peeped on anyone in a while." I grumble. Seriously, I haven't had the time to peep, what with all my training and what have you.

 **[Not from lack of trying, eh partner**?] Ddraig prodded.

…shut up, Ddraig!

I had, unsuccessfully, attempted to peek on Janne once a couple of weeks ago, but she was too on guard. Seriously, she could give the Kendo Club girls a workout when it comes to situational awareness!

"Issei?" Motohama gaped at me, accompanied by Matsuda, "What the hell?!"

"Yo!" I said, waving at them lazily, "Wassup?"

 **Lame.**

Shut it!

Once again, I noticed the double-takes of the girls around me, so I internally celebrated again. Losing an eye was so worth it.

 **That's not what you felt at the time.**

That was then, this is now.

Even the teachers were completely in the dark about who I was, at least until I introduced myself. My homeroom teacher refused to believe me until I proved it with my student ID booklet.

Taking my seat, I looked out the window and saw the occult Research Club walking towards the old schoolhouse. Rias Gremory-sempai was in the lead, flanked by Akeno Himejima-sempai and Yumi Kiba, with the school Mascot, Koneko Tōjō, trailing behind them.

I checked out their levels while I was at it.

 **Rias Gremory - Level 35**

 **Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess - King of Gremory**

 **Yumi Kiba - Level 22**

 **Knight of Gremory**

 **Akeno Himejima - Level 29**

 **Queen of Gremory - The Lightning Priestess**

 **Koneko Tōjō - Level 21**

 **Rook of Gremory**

OK, what the heck was with Rias-sempai and Akeno-sempai?! They had double titles!

 **Some people have that sort of thing. It means both titles are interconnected somehow, and are both a great part of who they are.**

OK then. Akeno-sempai's title [Priestess of Lightning] is fairly easy to decipher. She must primarily use lightning magic of some sort. Rias-sempai's title though…what could that indicate?

 **[The House of Gremory has blood-ties to the House of Bael.]** Ddraig offered, **[Members of the House of Bael have access to a unique form of magic known as the 'Power of Destruction', a magic so powerful that the most powerful wielders of it can eradicate an enemy right down to their cells. Maybe this is what the word 'Ruin' in her title refers to?]**

…I am going to make a point of not making her my enemy.

 **Smart choice.**

"Alright, sit down!" barked the teacher, who was still throwing me looks of disbelief every now and then. He shuffled some papers, coughed and then continued, "We have some transfer students today, class. Come in, both of you!"

The door opened and in walked Janne and Lie Rin, both wearing the girls' uniform of Kuoh Academy. Rin looked decidedly uncomfortable showing so much leg, though she showed just as much in her cheongsam. Then again, she was probably not used to wearing this kind of outfit.

Ah, what's that I hear? 'Why is the Yakuza lady here?'

It's a long story. Evidently, when I killed that Raijin Yōkai, I did indeed become the new leader of the Gotōryū Alliance…which rather freaked me out, I must confess. Seriously, I can barely run a café competently, now I'm the leader of the underworld of Kuoh city?!

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed…

I really need to stop saying that phrase.

Anyway, I had to send almost all of my new men to the hospital. Amazingly, no one died from my barely controlled punches or kicks, although several would be in casts for a while with broken limbs and ribs. What few men had remained mobile -the Gang Leaders, the Elites and a handful of Enforcers- had quickly knelt at my feet.

"We bow to the new leader!" they had declared.

Geh. Talk about embarrassing!

Nevertheless, the experience had been…heady, I had to admit.

The upshot of the hasty meeting afterwards had made it clear that I had put about 75% of their active forces out of commission for a good long while, meaning that other groups would be sniffing around Kuoh City, looking to muscle in on the Gotōryū Alliance's turf.

Well, we couldn't have that now could we? I suggested (they took it as an order) that the remaining members of the alliance start showing the flag around Kuoh City to discourage any competition, while I went back to school the next day.

At this, Lie Rin insisted on attending Kuoh Academy as my bodyguard. It was at this point that Janne, red in the face and glowering at the Chinese girl who had ambushed her, leapt to her feet and said she was going to come as well.

How did they get in, I hear you ask? Money talks, teachers listen. Put simply, Lie Rin bribed the hell out of the school authorities to be able to attend Kuoh Academy, as well as to be transferred into my class.

Returning my attention to the here and now, I watch the reaction of the boys around me in amusement. Matsuda and Motohama are leering at them, so I resolve to warn them off my employees. The girls were uncomfortable about the stares they were getting, which was noticed by the teacher.

"Introduce yourselves, if you please." he said.

"I am Janne Arc." my waitress introduced herself, "Nice to meet you all."

"Lie Rin. Hi." Rin said sleepily. She had not slept well…again.

"Lie-san, kindly have that hair dye removed from your forelock by tomorrow." the teacher scolded her.

"It's natural." she replied with a yawn, "Call it a birthmark. Or an abnormal streak of hair. Whatever."

Evidently deciding to retreat from her obvious indifference to the subject, the teacher waved them into the free seats, which were in front of and to the side of me. No one wanted to be too near me. *sigh*. The story of my life.

 **Oh, great. you listen to One Direction as well?**

Shut up, Bob!

Paying attention in class was slightly harder than normal because of all the jealous looks I was getting for being near the two new girls, but I managed it somehow. Janne and Rin then accompanied me to the cafeteria for lunch before we hid in the school grounds so as to get away from the people who were stalking them, otherwise known as Matsuda and Motohama.

"Issei-sama, your…friends…are most irritating." Rin noted as she bit into a yakisoba roll.

She insisted on addressing me with '-sama'. I only barely managed to convince her to call me Issei.

"Yep. They are." I agreed as I leaned against a tree, "The Three-Size Scouter and the Hentai Paparazzi are part of the Perverted Trio of Kuoh Academy."

"Who is the third?" Janne asked.

"Me." I replied simply, "I'm the so-called 'Oppai Baka', because I love breasts. I actually love the female body in general, but especially breasts."

There was no point trying to hide anything from these two. The various girls I had peeked on would no doubt fill them in on my various character faults in no time flat. Honesty and being upfront was the way to go here.

"Compared to Arata-teme's habit of killing people who displease him, being a pervert isn't such a bad thing." Rin said lazily, "You are my boss now, so if you want me to show you my body, just let me know."

"EH!?" Janne and I exclaimed.

"Y-You shameless Chinese hussy!" my waitress knight shouted at her former ambusher. Her face was bright red and I could see her reaching for her sword, only to remember that she had stored it in her inventory.

"What's shameless about it?" Rin asked, "I owe him. He saved me and my men from being killed by the bastard who killed the previous leader of the Gotōryū Alliance. If he wants my body as repayment, it's not that much of a sacrifice."

"He saved me from a Wendigo before he met you!" Janne snarled. I could swear that she was so angry that she looked ready to breath fire like a dragon.

"Ara? Are you going to show him your body then?" Rin asked slyly.

At this point, I had to stifle a nosebleed at the thought of seen both of them naked.

"W-Wh-What are you saying!?" Janne shrieked, "I am a noble knight of the Arc family! I wouldn't resort to showing my body to all and sundry!"

"Oh, so you aren't interested in him then?" the Chinese girl asked in faux-surprise, "All the more time for me then."

"Like hell!" Janne erupted, "[Equip Outfit Set 1]!"

In a flash, she was equipped in her standard outfit as a Knight of Arc, sword drawn and pointed at Rin. This was something she had discovered the previous day. You could mark armour and weapons as part of a 'Set', which allowed you to just order the entire set to be equipped with a single command instead of each piece separately.

"Last time you caught me off guard and used drugs to beat me; let's see how well you handle me fully armed and prepared!" Janne said coldly.

OK, enough is enough.

"OI!" I shouted, "Janne, calm down and change back to your uniform! No supernatural powers on campus!"

"But Issei~!" Janne whined.

"Janne." I said warningly, "There are two Devils related to two of the Four Great Devil Kings here and the last thing we want to do is draw their attention, especially since they have Peerages that altogether number at least fifteen."

Janne paled. "Seventeen Devils in one school?!"

"Who are they?" Rin asked as Janne hurriedly changed back to her uniform.

"Rias Gremory-sempai and her Occult Research Club and Sona Sitri-Kaicho with the Student Council." I replied, "Both of them are stronger than me and the weakest Devils in their Peerages are at least as strong as Janne."

This made Janne swear under her breath.

"That isn't really that much of a surprise." Rin said with a frown, "Supernatural races are by and large stronger than humans as a rule. Pureblooded Devils rarely have to train to do anything. A bit of practice and they can master just about any skill, combat or otherwise."

"You didn't seem to know much about the supernatural yesterday." Janne said pointedly.

"I know very little about the Nitenryū and Sacred Gears." Rin corrected her, "I know the basics about the supernatural as a whole and the Three Factions in particular. I do know slightly more about the Yōkai Faction, but next to nothing about any of the other Pantheons."

"Huh." Janne said sceptically.

"To change the subject slightly, where did you bring that armour and sword out from?" Rin asked.

I sighed and launched into an explanation of my Gamer power and how those I invited into my Party could gain a pseudo-Gamer interface for as long as they were in my party.

After staring at me incredulously for a moment, Rin sighed.

"Sure, why not? First a Raijin Yōkai, now this generation's Sekiryūtei with a bizarre RPG-like power." she stage-whispered to herself, "What next? A redhead with a scythe? A spunky blond pervert?"

I chuckled nervously. She was taking this situation much as I had.

 **[She'll be a good mate for you.]**

Neither of them are my mates, you perverted dragon!

 **Exasperated Statement: You truly raise blind density to a new high, meatbag.**

Shut UP, Bob!

While I was dealing with the voices in my head…no, the actual voices in my head, not imagined ones…Rin had been eyeing Janne and I speculatively.

"Can you invite me?" she asked tentatively.

"Sure. [Invite Lie Rin into Party]" I said, ignoring Janne's pout.

Unperturbed by the Knight of Arc's scrutiny, Rin hit the accept button and started looking through her Status screen rapidly before looking above our heads.

"You talked big, little girl, but you are only Level 24 to my Level 30." she said, much to Janne's fury.

"Levels are only a guideline, you strumpet!" she snarled, "That Wendigo I mentioned? Issei beat it when he was Level 17 and it was Level 45!"

"Alright, enough of this, both of you!" I said, fed up of their quarrelling, "Janne, regardless of what she was forced to do to you, she is now my subordinate and I'd appreciate it if you stop trying to pick a fight with her. Rin, Janne is my employee at my café, as well as my friend. Stop trying to needle and provoke her."

"Yes Issei." Janne muttered forlornly.

"By your command, Issei-sama." Rin actually bowed to me as she replied.

Sheesh. Handling two strong willed women at once is hard work. The road to a harem is indeed a tough one.

 **For making an accurate assumption, you gain +1 WIS!**

…Bob, I am going to find a way to make you a body, just so I can sock you one.

 **Condescending Sneer: Bring it on, meatbag!**

"Look, we have Fallen Angels coming to kill me tomorrow, so I would really appreciate you two working together on this." I sigh, "The chances of me surviving rise by quite a bit if we all work together."

"I hate you." Janne said to Rin, "You attacked me from behind and used drugs to beat me, not to mention doing nothing when that bastard was kicking me. Foe Issei's sake though, I will put my animosity to one side until after we deal with the Fallen Angels."

"Agreed." Rin nodded shortly, "Then I will put you in your place, little girl."

The glares between the two girls were practically visible as lightning, and I could practically see the shapes of a tiger and dragon glaring at each other over the girls' shoulders.

 **Ohhhh…catfight! Better bring the popcorn...also the mud and the bikini's, definitely can't forget about the mud and the bikini's!**

Shut up Bob!

Though I would like to see that too...

"If we can stop fighting now?" I said meaningfully. The girls took the hint and looked away from each other.

"Good. Now that Rin has joined the party, we can see her stats." I said with a smile, "Lets see what she has to work with."

Rin obligingly opened her status window to allow Janne and I to look at it.

 **Lie Rin - Level 31**

 **Gundancer**

 **HP: 1150/1150**

 **MP: 1400/1400**

 **MP Regen: 10 (10 MP) per minute**

 **STR: 20**

 **VIT: 30**

 **DEX: 45**

 **INT: 25**

 **WIS: 25**

 **LUK: 10**

 **Points: 0**

 **Money: 145820**

"That is quite the impressive stat sheet." I said with a nod.

Seriously, it was. Her STR was rather low, but as her primary weapons were SMG's, it was a moot point. Her DEX was fairly high, which would explain how expertly she wielded aforementioned SMG's.

"Thank you, Issei-sama." Rin said with a small smile.

"You have more MP than either Janne or I do, so I would say that this skill book would be of help to you." I say as I hand her the [Summon: Onibidama] skill book.

I had thought long and hard at this since I had been told that the yakuza were my subordinates now. Rin was my Second in Command and, when she was in the party, fulfilled the role of midrange support with her guns. A bit of mystical help never went amiss.

"This will allow you to summon Jack O'Lanterns, which specialise in fire-based magic." I explained as she examines the window that popped up asking if she wanted to learn the skill, "I think that you can train this skill by repeatedly summoning and maintaining the Jack O'Lantern."

"Looks good." Rin remarked, "I'll take it."

With that, she hit the 'accept' button and gazed in amazement as the book dissolved into blue light and was absorbed into her body.

"I never get tired of seeing that." I remark, "I'll be learning this skill here… [Senjutsu]."

After seeing what that Mezuki could use it for, I was rather eager to learn it. The only reason I hadn't learned the skill yesterday was because the boost to my abilities would have been minimal at best. Now, however, I could train all day after school.

"Issei-sama, Senjutsu is very dangerous." Rin cautioned me with a frown, "If you draw in too much, you will become drunk on power and attack those around you. I would strongly advise against learning something so dangerous without a teacher to guide you."

Huh. I never knew that. Her face was very serious, so I decided to take her at her word.

"OK, if you are that insistent about it, I won't learn it until I find a teacher." I promise.

"What did you grab from Nue's corpse yesterday?" Janne asked.

"Well, I got the Raigekijin, obviously, but other than that, I don't know." I admitted, "I was a little bit more concerned with you at the time. Let's investigate, shall we?"

There were three skill books and two pieces of armour, not to mention a large jewel.

"Is that a sapphire?" Janne asked with wide eyes. I couldn't blame her; the thing was the size of a grown man's clenched fist and was expertly cut. It looks just like one of the gems from Spyro the Dragon, now I come to think of it.

 **Radiant Sapphire of Farsight - Item**

 **A lost treasure of a distant land, this item can be added to a magician's staff. It grants the wielder of that staff the knowledge of the spell [Farsight]. It also adds +200 to the wielder's MP.**

"…wow." I said after a moment, "Shame we don't have any magicians around."

"Yet." Janne sighed, "You are a dragon, Issei. You have the propensity to draw people to you with your charisma. I'll just bet that the magician will be a girl as well, damn it. More damn rivals…"

She muttered the last part under her breath, but I still heard her. What was she so irritated about all of a sudden?

 **Oh, for the love of…! She's jealous, you moron!**

Eh?!

 **You swoop in, save her life not just once, but twice, and you think that she won't get a crush on you as a result?**

Err…kinda.

 **If I had a head, I'd be beating it off the wall at the moment! Ask her on a date for crying out loud! It's the least you owe her after yesterday!**

That's…a point. After we've sorted this loot though.

The first piece of armour was a pair of light bracers made out of a pale, silvery metal that had the girls gasping in shock to see them.

 **Moonsilver Bracers - Defence: 350**

 **A pair of light gauntlets made of the legendary metal Mithril, they are lightweight, stronger than steel and very rare.**

 **\- Grants an additional +150 Defence against Devil's Magic.**

"Janne, these are yours." I say firmly, "You might as well get something out of that bastard."

She took the bracers shakily, hardly able to believe my words. "Issei, these are worth a king's ransom!" she said faintly, "Mithril is so rare that this much of it in one set of armour is almost unheard of."

"I once saw a small dagger made of the stuff be sold for enough to buy this school twice over!" Rin added.

Eh? Th-this stuff is that rare?

[Its main value comes from its ability to resist the magic of Devils, as well as the fact Mithril is lighter, pound for pound, than almost any other metal.] Ddraig informed me.

"Meh." I shrug, "Knowing my luck, I'll find another one somewhere. Take it."

I ignored the still dumbstruck faces of my companions and turned my attention to the last piece of armour. At least, the description said it was armour. It looked more like a battle-bikini of some sort. Combat underwear? Who knew a Raijin Yōkai had such kinky tastes!

 **Succubus Battle Dress - Defence: 400**

 **Restrictions: Female Only, not regular Angels.**

 **Succubae are rarely the sort to go into battle, but if they do, they take full advantage of dressing to distract. This armour, although revealing, draws upon the wearer's natural magic to empower its defences in the form of a thin, invisible layer of mana -or demonic energy if worn by a Devil- above the skin, covering the entire body of the wearer.**

 **Draws 3MP/Minute to fuel armour.**

"I am not wearing that." Rin stated flatly.

"I wouldn't ask you to." I shot back, "Unless you were infiltrating a group of perverts, in which case this would be the perfect thing to wear."

"May that circumstance never happen!" Rin mock-prayed.

I had to fight down the image in my mind of Rin wearing the scanty armour and the impending nosebleed that would have occurred shortly thereafter.

The skill books were rather impressive. All three were attack oriented, each for a different element. Lightning wasn't included though, oddly enough. There was earth, fire and wind magic, but not the element of the one I defeated to acquire them. There seemed to be no logic to the drop system here.

"How should we divide these?" I muse aloud.

"You're a dragon, so you should take the fire one." Janne reasoned, "I don't do much acrobatics, so the earth one will do me fine, leaving the wind one to her."

I nod at the logic.

"Makes sense that you like rolling around in the dirt." Rin muttered under her breath. Janne either didn't hear her or she was obeying my request to not fight, which was a relief.

 **Flame Scar**

 **Do you wish to learn this?**

 **Yes/No**

Yeah!

 **Flame Scar - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **A basic Pyromancy spell that sends three bursts of fire at the enemy from the caster's hands. In order to cast this spell, you need only say its name as you channel mana to your hands.**

"Cool." I say before looking at the girls, "What did you two get?"

"I got something called [Spike Strike]." Janne replied with a grin, "It lets me fire a spike from the earth from anywhere within five meters."

"I, on the other hand, got the [Wind Sickle] spell." Rin smirked, "With a wave of my hand, I can send half-a-dozen blades of wind at my enemies, albeit weak ones for the moment."

This led the two to debate which was better between their new magic skills. Wisely, I kept out of it until it was time for classes again.

* * *

As the bell rang, signalling the end of school, I was being harassed by the two voices in my head to ask Janne out on a date… Geez, they are persistent!

 **Ask her, ask her, ask her, ask her…**

AAAAGGGGGHHHH! Fine! I'll ask her!

 **Bob -1, Issei - 0.**

I will get you for this…

"Janne." I called over to her, where she was trying to get away from Motohama, who was blatantly leering at her from inside her personal space.

"Issei, you traitor! Don't get in my way!" the bespectacled pervert whined at me.

"Shut up." I sighed and bopped him lightly on the head. Even with me holding back, it still made him faceplant on the floor.

Janne threw me a grateful look as I led her and Rin out of the class. She had clearly been seconds away from laying my friend out with a single punch, with much less restraint than I had shown, so I thanked my lucky stars.

"Issei?" my waitress asked in concern. I blinked, realising I had been staring at her blankly for a couple of minutes.

"Sorry. Just lost in thought." I say with a smile, "Fancy a date, Janne?"

"EHH!?" she squeaked, "R-Really?"

"Think of it as an apology for what happened yesterday." I tell her.

"That wasn't your fault though!" she protested.

"True, but you got dragged into it because you are my friends, so just accept this date as an apology, OK?" I reply with a small smile.

With a bright red flush, Janne nods shyly in acceptance.

"I take it I should return to the Gotōryū then, Issei-sama?" Rin asks quietly.

"Please do." I say with a nod, "By the way, do I have to rename the alliance?"

"You do." Rin replied, "The founder named it the Kokuryū (Black Dragon) Alliance. When Nue killed him, he renamed it Gotōryū. I would appreciate naming it something other than Nue's chosen name."

Well, shit. What the hell should I call it? Why me?!

 **[An eye for an eye, Partner.]** Ddraig said with a chuckle.

That gives me an idea.

"OK then…the new name of the group…is Katameryūgumi (One-Eye Dragon Group)." I said firmly.

Referencing the eye that Nue took from me will hopefully send a message to any who have any grudges against me in the yakuza; that I am not afraid to get hurt in the process of saving my friends. That ought to give them pause before they do something stupid and forcing me to hospitalise them.

Again.

"By your command, Issei-sama." Rin bowed, "I shall take my leave now. Enjoy your date."

With that, she turned and walked off quite sedately, nodding politely at Janne as she went.

Well…that was unexpected.

"So…where to?" Janne asked shyly.

"Hmmm…" I thought for a moment, "I haven't shown you the rest of the shopping district, so we'll do some window shopping and grab a bite to eat. After that…we'll just go with the flow."

And so we set out.

As we shopped, I learned new things about Janne. For example, she had always tried her hardest to live up to her family's expectations, but had usually fallen short of what sounded like decidedly Herculean goals for her, which had prompted her flight from her family's estate all those months ago.

Another tip I picked up on was that she loved birds, swallows in particular. She went gaga over a nest we discovered in a tree and I practically had to pry her off them with a crowbar.

At length, we ended up in the park where I had killed the Wendigo, the exact spot was a bit of a blur to me because of the amount of pain I had been in at the time.

"It's strange how things work, isn't it?" Janne said softly, "I chased what I thought was merely a yeti into this park, only to be knocked out by the damn Wendigo. If you hadn't come along, I'd be dead right now."

"That's true." I agreed, "I'll admit it was a close-run thing that fight. Still, everything worked out for the best, didn't it?"

"It did." the Knight agreed.

As we walked, it occurred to me that Janne needed all the help she could get. Out of the three of us (me, her and Rin), Janne was the weakest, although I rather think that that status will change once we pay a visit to the second dungeon map. Anyway, the point is that I'll have to keep close to her for her own protection, meaning that the Brotherhood Rings that I got while going to rescue her would be useful.

"Janne." I say as I draw the black box that one of the rings was in out of my inventory. My bad luck chose that moment to intervene and made my fingers fumble the box. Muttering a curse, I kneel down and pick it up again, only to look up and see Janne staring at me in disbelief.

"Here." I say and present the box to her, opening it up to reveal a thin silver band with a small diamond

"This…I…it's too soon!" Janne flushed prettily as she stammered nigh intelligibly.

Eh? What?

Feeling a presence behind me all of a sudden, I turn my head to see Zelretch standing behind me with a manic grin on his face and his hands holding the strings of many balloons that all said 'CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT!'

...I'm gonna kill him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Yeah…you guys know the drill. Beta'ed by SeerKing.**

* * *

Technology.

One of the examples of Humanity's evolution through the years, it was one of these things that made humanity a shining example of progress. When they evolve, we do as well.

Cars, Trains, Toasters, Computers, you name it!

One of these examples was the basic smart phone.

And I loved it.

…Until today…yeah. To be more specific I really wanted to find and kill a certain dimension travelling old man.

It was Saturday, I was just standing in front of the train station, standing there, wearing a black muscle shirt with a dark blue open hoodie, and dark blue jeans. Wearing black combat boots. I was now just waiting for my date. Till I remembered something.

I still don't know how entertain a girl on a date.

So I turned on my phone, wanting to use the internet, until I saw that I had received a message. So I opened it.

And then I find this shit.

 **"This…I…it's too soon!" A blonde haired girl was blushing prettily as a brown haired guy wearing an eyepatch was kneeling in front of her holding a box with a ring in it, looking confused as hell.**

 **"Eh? What?" The guy said, before he sensed something behind him. He stood up and turned his head behind him…and his expression shifted from confusion to anger, he was scowling at something.**

 **When the camera shifted to the right, it showed an old man, with a manic look on his face. Holding many Balloons that said "CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT" on it.**

 **"…Zelretch, you son of a-" He was going to shout out before he felt someone hug him, which revealed to be the blond haired girl, who had her face buried in his chest.**

 **"J-Janne!" He said confusedly.**

 **"…" She muttered something quietly.**

 **"What?" He questioned at her.**

 **"…Yes." She now looked up at him, smiling with a blush on her face. "Yes, I will be with you!"**

 **"Wait, what are you-?!" before he could continue, the girl kissed him on the lips, which made him wide eyed and blushing in the face.**

…And that was the end of it.

The Bastard sent me the video…

If he ever appears in front of me, I am going to sock him right in the face.

Now you may be wondering "Issei what the hell happened after that?"

Well…Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll tell you this one thing and one thing only.

I ain't single anymore, that's for sure.

Don't believe me, well I wouldn't believe myself either…except for two things.

One, I had a sliver ring on my left hand that I couldn't take off, which signifies that I was a married man or someone in a relationship, and two.

"Status." I muttered.

 **Issei Hyoudou – Level 31**

 **The Gamer**

 **[Married]**

Married…I was married guys.

 **[I prefer the word mated for life but whatever, you humans are weird.]**

Shut up, Ddraig!

Anyway…I don't know why but I feel happy actually…I know I wanted to become a harem king but this… this proves I'm not alone anymore.

I would usually just look at happy couples and be envious of them, wishing for something like that…but I don't have to anymore.

I do have feelings for Janne, yes I admit to that, who doesn't? She was cute, strong, smart, and a little clumsy, a bit of a dork I might add but hey that's what I love about her!

I even shared an inventory with her for Christ's sake! Which sounds strangely like SAO I might add?

*Sigh* Guess I can't get a harem now. I'm staying faithful and true to her and that's a fact!

… **You can make a harem dude.**

What?

 **Dude, what I'm saying is you can make a harem!**

WHAAAT?!

 **You forgot you were a Yakuza Boss, didn't you?**

Oh shit you're right! I forgot about that…hey wait a minute I can't just play with a girl's feelings that's wrong!

 **True, but hey it's a possibility.**

Yeah…

 **[Why are we here though? Aren't you supposed to be pleasing your mate instead of immediately finding concubines for your harem?]**

Not everything is about sex, you Ero-Dragon! I may be a pervert, but I still have to give Janne time to…"get into the mood" and it is our first time so-wait why the fuck am I discussing this with you?!

*Sigh* never mind, don't you remember the plan!

 **[The plan...oh yeah now I remember!]**

My plan was to-ha, do you really think I would reveal them this early!

 **Whatever, what about a backup plan? What if she had allies?**

I didn't say anything, I just looked to the side, which was a few corners away from me, and a man in a black suit was against the wall, just smoking cigarettes.

When he saw me looking at him, he nodded and showed me his tie, which had a pin in the shape of a draconic hand with a green gem on it.

Oh yeah, I should probably tell you guys, when my group made the name change they also changed their symbol to fit mine, which was the Dragon Bringer.

And here's the kicker. They're calling me…Ryū-sama.

Feels weird, but there you go. Oh, she's here!

"Issei!" Yuuma came running towards me. Wearing a pink-frilled blouse, knee-length skirt, and brown shoes. When she was in front of me she tiredly put her hands on her knees and took a deep breathe. Which made an…"interesting motion" with her "assets".

Wait, don't look at it Issei, you're a married man now!

…Maybe just a- No! I have to quit looking at her oppai already!

"I'm sorry I'm late. I just lost track of time and…" When she looked up at me, she froze. She blinked a few times and then rubbed her eyes and looked at me again closely.

"Umm…who are you?"

"Issei Hyoudou."

"A-are you sure?" She asked me sceptically. "Because I was pretty sure you looked different when we met."

"Don't worry about it, I just got an accident and had to wear this eyepatch."

"A-alright and the hair?"

"Was getting longer, had to cut it."

"O-Okay" She then smiled at me, which was pretty cute I might add.

 **Now then, let the Love Experts guide you, young noob.**

Love Experts, seriously?

 **[Yes, now stick out your elbow and ask where she wants to go.]**

I raised an eyebrow, but did what I was told. I stuck out my elbow and asked her, "So, where do you want to go?"

To my surprise, Yuuma wrapped her arms around mine, also pressing my arm right between her heavenly mounds.

I just smiled at her as if it was something I was used to.

…That was what I was on the outside; on the inside I was having a nosebleed overload and a seizure.

Mama Mia, this are one hell of a front bumpers I can tell you that! (A/N: Just wait until he meets her "true" self…oh he is in trouble.)

 **Calm down, you're acting as if this is your first date…which it isn't.**

After a moment of thought, she retorted, "I'm not sure really. I've never really been in this part of the city."

 **[Hmm, what's that I smell? Why I do believe that's bullshit in the air guys!]**

 **Yeah, we know Ddraig. But we have to do this. Now then Issei, ask her about what she likes.**

I nodded subtly and after clearing my throat, I asked, "So…what kinds of things do you like to do?"

Yuuma put a finger to her chin and then answered, "I suppose shopping and trying new foods. I actually never really thought about it much."

 **[Yeah, that's what we thought you would say, bitch.]**

Ignoring them, I hummed for a moment and then decided "We could just walk around till we find something."

Yuuma agreed, and we started walking. As we walked I asked, "So…what kind of shopping do you like to do?"

The fake girl raised an eyebrow curiously. "Well…shopping…" She frowned in thought and glanced around some.

I scowled and narrowed my eyes at her, before I returned my face to normal before she saw it.

So that's your game, huh?

After a moment, Yuuma answered, "I suppose clothes shopping, though I really just enjoy shopping in general."

 **Okay, I have a plan. There's a shopping centre near here. Take her near there and gauge her response.**

Wh-what? How do I do that…?

 **Just look at her face as you come close to a clothing store and let me and Ddraig do the rest.**

Ummm…right…

* * *

Soon enough, we arrived at the mall and approached the clothing store, a relatively middle of the road store that most anyone would be shopping at.

I glanced down at Yuuma to see her expression, which subtly changed to one of confusion.

 **[Hmm…that's a tough one. For now take her inside and keep an eye on how she reacts.]**

Okay…

We then made our way inside, with me following behind Yuuma as she moved about the store trying on different items; I was also convinced to try on new outfits as well.

After a while, I felt something strange all of a sudden.

Hey guys. Something doesn't feel right.

 **Well, duh. You're wearing a black muscle shirt under that hoodie.**

I then blinked and looked down, I was exactly wearing what Bob said, a muscle shirt.

It kind of made me feel like a piece of meat since the women in the store were all looking at me strangely.

Huh? So that's what I was feeling!

 ***Sigh* Dumbass.**

When we left the store, both of us laughing happily, Yuuma was wearing a pink scrunchy I picked out for her.

I then suggested we go eat lunch, she happily said yes and we went on our merry way.

* * *

We then arrived at a small cafe on the edge of the district that Yuuma dragged us into.

…D-don't think I was planning to stake out this place, I mean sure it's a café but I wasn't planning on s-spying or anything.

Once we got our orders at the counter, Yuuma went to sit at a booth. While I was at the bathroom, talking to the voices in my head.

"What the fuck do I do now?!" I whispered to the Bob, as I was in one of the stalls.

 **Just enjoy the date, if we find something strange happening we'll tell you.**

 **[Speaking of strange, you may want to go outside.]**

"Huh?' I was confused by Ddraig's words, so I went outside of the bathroom, looked around the restaurant and spotted something.

…I deadpanned at the sight.

Right there, a few meters away from the table being occupied by Yuuma, was a short white haired girl wearing the Kuoh school uniform, eating a banana split deluxe.

…Yeah. If you guessed it, then you are right it was Koneko Tōjō.

 **[Stalker much?]**

Has she been following me on this date the entire time?!

 **Ayup.**

Shit. Does this mean Rias-sempai was spying on me?

 **[Hmm, what's this I see? I do believe that's Yumi Kiba and Akeno Hime-whatever her last name is near her table.]**

I then turned and saw to the left that Ddraig was right. Both of them were sitting there, eating and chatting as if they were just normal highschool girls.

Keyword being "normal" Which they were not by the way. I'm pretty sure they were fucking stalkers by how much they followed me on this date.

*Sigh* whatever, gotta continue the date anyway.

When I returned to our table, our orders had arrived. We just talk and ate, which helped me learn a lot about her as we discussed about our likes, dislikes, hobbies, pretty much anything in fact. We basked in the happy and fun atmosphere the café was creating.

 **She could be saying false things.**

…You just had to ruin the moment, didn't you?

 **Hey, I'm pretty much the asshole friend who helps his buddy's by telling them what they're doing is fake and wrong so they don't fuck shit up in their lives so…yeah, I had to ruin the moment.**

…right, well I'm gonna ignore you now.

* * *

After that, the both of us ended up in a park, we were now just standing in front of a fountain.

The Park was deserted by the way, so I was certain right now, that she was going to kill me here. It was rather obvious with the purple sky.

"I-Issei?" I turned around and saw her, standing in front of the fountain smiling at me.

"Yes?" I asked her.

"There's something I want to do to celebrate our first date."

"What is it that you want?"

What she said next…was what caught me off guard.

"Could you die for me?" She said as she smiled at me as if she hadn't said something wrong.

…Huh?

 **Well that was fast.**

"Huh? Come Again?" I picked at my ears with a confused face. "I think my hearing is getting fucked up, did you say you want me dead?"

"Yup!"

"As in dead? A corpse? Gone from the mortal world dead?"

"Yes."

"Aaha-ha, ahah-ha, that's a pretty good joke there, Yuuma-chan, you really had me going there."

"This is not a joke." Her cute voice was now gone, replaced by a cold tone that could even freeze the warmest of hearts.

Her clothes then suddenly ripped itself apart, replaced by strips of black cloth only covering key parts of her naked body, as a pair of black feathered wings erupted from her back, the colour signifying her status as a Fallen Angel. Her body also matured from that of a girl to a sexy mature woman.

 **Raynare – Level 29**

I just stood there, my face blank from seeing the overall bullshit.

How the fuck did her level grow?!

 **[She must have been hiding her power this entire time!]** Ddraig concluded.

"Strange, you're not surprised!" Yuuma- or should I say Raynare said as she licked her fingers sensually.

"Surprised? Hell yeah, I'm surprised! You suddenly showing your oppai surprised me!"

 **Annnd this is the reason why you're called the Oppai Baka.**

"Humph, a pervert to the end." She then conjured up a light spear, and proceeded to move into a position to throw it at me.

"W-wait- please don't kill me!" I raised my hands up in fear, as I stepped back a few meters.

"Humph, sorry but I have to." She then smiled cruelly at me. "It was fun, the short span of time I spent with you. It was like playing couple with a child."

"W-W-Wait, before you kill me." I was stuttering at her.

"Hmm?"

"C-Can I just s-s-say something?" I lowered my head, so that she couldn't see my face.

"…Fine." She then lowered her spear." I guess you can say some final words, what is it?"

"…" I grumbled something under my breath.

"Hmm, what was that?" She questioned at me, tilting her head. "Repeat that again, or I'll just end you already."

"I said…" I then showed her my grinning face, "What are you waiting for, girls?! Get this bitch!"

"H-huh?"

RATATATATATATATA

Suddenly, a bunch of flying bullets passed by me, surprising Raynare before she flew out of the way just in time to miss them all.

"What the hell is happening?!" She gritted her teeth. She was now hovering in the sky, her wings barely moving as she did so.

"It's simple actually, Yuuma…." I said as I put my hands inside my pockets, grinning as my right eye stared up to look at her menacingly. "…or should I say, Fallen Angel Leader Raynare?"

"Y-You knew all along?!" She realized as she gritted her teeth, looking at me.

"Well, duh." A voice appeared behind me. A person then walked up beside me, which revealed to be Rin in the same clothes she wore when we first meet, smoke coming out of the barrels of her guns.

"Ryū-sama is not stupid enough to fall for your tricks, you witch." She then blew the smoke coming out of her guns.

Implying that I am stupid to some degree? Oi…

"Who the hell are you?" She looked at Rin in confusion.

"I'm Lie Rin, and I'm Ryū-sama's right hand." She then pointed her guns up at Raynare. "And I do believe you are trying to kill my lord."

"Hey Rin, where's Janne?" I asked the Chinese girl beside me.

"Right here." A voice came from my right; I then looked and saw Janne beside me, wearing her armour and wielding her sword and shield. "And I think I need to teach this hussy what happens when you try to kill a girl's beloved."

"And who the hell are you?!' She then pointed her spear at me. "Tch, never mind I'll just have to kill you all myself. Everybody, come out and kill these fools!"

What the fuck does she mean by that?

TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP

I then heard something like footsteps coming near, appearing behind her were a large group of people wearing white priest clothes with black jackets attached with hoods, making them invisible under them. Running towards us, they were wielding pistols, claymores, halberds and-

Fucking Lightsabers?!

 **Oh shit, Jedi going down towards the dark side?! I expected swords, claymores and holy water, maybe even a Bible but I never expected Anakin Skywalker to have followers!**

 **[C'mon, only Revan does this shit! Where the fuck is Luke Skywalker and Galen Marek when you need them, those assholes!]**

Not the time for references, you guys! Moreover, I'm pretty sure some people don't know who Galen Marek is!

I then looked up to see their levels.

 **Stray Exorcist – Level 16**

 **Stray Exorcist – Level 14**

Most of them were Level 16, while some of them were Level 14. They were easy to kill but there were just too many! Sure, I expected her to have lackeys, but this!?

I am so fucking levelling up LUC!

Then they proceeded to split, showing someone walking forward, he was a male, possibly in his mid-thirties. His brown hair was parted from the middle of his scalp and fell to the sides, his bangs only coming down to his ears. His blue eyes, along with his white, almost pale skin, made it quite obvious that he was a foreigner. His cheekbones were well defined, as was his jaw line, displaying the utter lack of fat on his cheeks. The weapon that he was holding in his right hand was a claymore. He was wearing the same outfit as everyone else but unlike the others he had a cross around his neck and wore steel gauntlets on his hands.

 **Father George – Level 30**

 **Stray Priest Leader**

Shit, this guy's level is almost the same as mine.

"Humph, I see you are in trouble, Fallen One." He sneered at her as if she was a waste of time. "I guess we'll have to clean up your mess this time."

"Shut it, you pest!" Raynare shouted at him "I'm retreating, so you had better take care of these annoyances or your head will be on a stake!"

"…Very well." He glared at her, full of hatred. "If you insist."

Raynare then proceeded to fly away. Leaving us with this guy and his army of Stray Exorcists.

 **[Plan B?]** Ddraig asked me.

Yes Fuckin' Plan B!

"Rin, get everyone to come here now!" I gritted my teeth, as I looked at the large group of priests, ready to rip us to shreds like confetti.

"Do not worry, Ryū-sama." Rin smiled at me, as if it was not a problem. "Most of them are already out of the hospital, and now they're already coming."

Tromp-tromtromptromp! Tromp-tromptromptromp!

I then heard the sound of marching, which sounded suspiciously like the main theme of V for Vendetta. I then looked around-

And proceeded to stop and stare at the sight.

What was it you ask?

Why they were a large army of men, there was no word to describe them, but the word 'thugs.' They were all brutish looking and ugly. Some had Mohawk style, some Elvis style, and some even was bald. All of them were wearing suits and they were all wielding all kinds of weapons. Katana's, Bats, AK-47's, fuck even one of them was using a nail board as a weapon!

Some held banners with a symbol of a red dragon's arm with a green gem on it. Some held flags with the same symbol and some had flags with the word "Dokuganryū."

I'm pretty sure that means "One-Eyed Dragon" by the way.

 **Congratulations! You have gained the title "Dokuganryū".**

What the fuck?! Am I Date Masamune or something?!

One man stepped forward. He started to wave a flag around and shouting.

"Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki!"

All the other men started to chant along with the man. They started to stomp their feet on the ground while some waved their flags high up into the air.

"Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Aniki!"

…This is going to be one hell of a fight.

A window then appeared.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Downfall Showdown: Show these ex-priests and the cocky bitch what it means to disturb a sleeping dragon!**

 **Quest Completion Reward: 10000 Exp**

 **10000 money**

 **Random piece of equipment**

 **Quest Failure: Death**

 **Accept?**

 **Yes/No**

I stared at the screen for a while…before I just sighed and pressed yes, making it disappear.

Well…this is going to be interesting.

I then raised my left hand in the air, signalling them to stop for a moment.

"What are you waiting for, you hellions?!" I shouted at them. I then pumped my fist in the air and summon Yukimaru in its sheath from my inventory. "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

"OOOOH!" They shouted back as agreement.

…Don't look at me like that; I'm supposed to be this generation's "Dokuganryū" remember? Might as well follow some of his personality as well.

"What a waste of time!" George shouted as he pointed his claymore at us. "In the name of the Lord, Ready yourselves!

"Yes, Father George!" The exorcists all shouted in agreement, as they readied their weapons.

The Father George guy and I glared at each other for a moment, eyeing each other's stances, making sure to see each other's weak points and vulnerability.

…Ba-Dum…

I slid into a simple stance. I gripped Yukimaru tightly with my right hand at my left hip, as I glared with my right eye at both eyes of the Priest. My men were glaring with full force as well.

…Ba-Dum…

Father George just glared back at me, unamused and dismissive. Tightly gripping the handle of his claymore as he stared at the sight of my gang and me. The men behind him were not backing down either.

…Ba-Dum…

Rin looked impassive, simply staring at the enemy with her guns in her hands.

…Ba-Dum…

Janne looked nervous, as she looked at the priests, before she shook her head and with a determined look on her face, held Crocea Mors firmly and steady.

…Ba-Dum…

Everything went to chaos.

I unsheathed Yukimaru from her sheath and it, and pointed at them.

"Chaaaaarge!" I shouted as I started to run towards them, Janne was at my side as my men were behind me, holding their weapons up high. Rin and the gunners stayed behind, firing their weapons through our forces.

"Slaughter each and every one of them!" Father George shouted as he raised his claymore up high and ran towards me with full speed, the men behind him charged as well.

"RAAAAH!"

"RAAAAH!"

CLANG!

With our swords up high, we clashed as the people around us fought and battled one another, swords clashing and guns firing, Janne was fighting the people around me while I was just focusing on this guy.

I rushed at him as he back-stepped a few meters. He cut at me a downward slash and I dipped and weaved right, stabbing at his right side. He parried with one of his gauntlets and the blade clashed against the metal strapped to his arms with a shriek that sent sparks flying into the air.

"Is that it?" He mockingly asked with a raised eyebrow.

I slashed upwards, attempting to catch him from the stem all the way to stern.

The Bastard dodged back just enough and the blade passed a hairs breath from his face.

"What's the point-"He swiftly punched me in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of me, "-of using a weapon-"The quick blow had opened up a moment for him to attack and used a simple sidekick into my stomach. "-when you can't even use it with any degree of skill!?"

He then followed up with a rising uppercut using his right hand, making me bite my own tongue in the process.

Gaagh. Shit, that fucking hurts!

I kicked him in the stomach, making him go "oomph" before I stepped down on his claymore, grabbed his head with my left hand and gave him a hard headbutt in the process.

BAM!

His head flew back, making him dazed and I used the opportunity. I hacked and slashed at his torso in frenzy, making it bleed from the wounds, before he managed to recover and punched me straight in the face.

CRUNCH!

You heard that? That was the sound of my teeth cracking breaking. I think one of them just got out.

I am really gonna kill this guy.

I back-stepped a few meters to get away from him before I stood still. Yukimaru still in my hands.

I moved my mouth a bit before I spat out a tooth. I licked the part where the missing tooth was, where I could also feel my cracked teeth, and glared at him.

He was glaring as well, His clothes were torn, and blood was seeping out of his torso from the wounds and cuts I gave him.

I looked around and saw my men fighting, they were all winning but some of them were getting tired.

Janne was fighting three guys, wielding their light sabres and was managing on her own, parrying and countering their attacks as she moved around them swiftly.

Rin was also doing fine, managing on her own with five or six of them. Weaving and dodging, shooting her guns at all of them.

I am really impressed by them!

Wait…what's that Father George guy doing?

I looked and see him holding a red vial, when he drank it-

Oh, that's just not fair!

His wounds began to emit a green light and when they faded his wounds and cuts were already healed.

…I'm getting a healer.

"Foolish boy." George said contemptfully, "You cannot prevail against me!"

"Izzat so?" I respond cockily. I reach into midair and grab my own bottle of Health Potion before downing it. I could feel it working its way through my system and winced in pain as my cracked teeth healed and a new tooth grew in to replace the one the damn exorcist had knocked out.

"What? Did you think you were the only one with healing potions?" I mocked George as his face darkened with rage.

"It would have been easier on you if you had just lain down and died!" the man growled at me angrily.

"Yeah, not happening." I replied dryly. Seriously, what kind of idiot would actually give up when they were about to be killed?

 **[Partner…go up to level two on this bastard.]**

What was Ddraig talking about, you ask? Simply put, I fought at three different levels. First level is as I am right now, either barehanded or with one sword out, with no supernatural abilities. Level 2 was with two swords and adding mana attacks to the mix. Level three was much the same, but with me having the [Dragon Booster] out as well.

Got it, Ddraig.

"I think that's enough of a warm up, wouldn't you agree?" I ask George cockily.

"You are not worth me fighting all out with." he sneered.

"Fine…take it as easy as you like on me, dog of the Fallen." I growled, flashing my sharp teeth. "You will come to regret it though…I can guarantee it!"

With a thought, Himari was in my other hand and I silently used the [Iron Skin] spell on myself. Now I was ready to take on this asshat.

"Where did that sword come from? What foul sorcery have you wrought, fool?" George demanded with narrowed eyes.

"That would be telling." I smirk at him, "Now then…let's dance, asshole!"

I charge at him and struck out with my swords rapidly. George parried every blow, but it was a close-run thing to judge by his wide-eyed disbelief.

"How is it that you are so much more skilled wielding two blades than you are with one?!" he hissed.

"That's for me to know and you to curse yourself for not." I quipped, "[Flying Dragon Wave]!"

He evidently hadn't expected me to use a mana-based attack, so he dodged too late and got sent flying. He crashed to the ground with a thud and started swearing like a sailor. As he got up, I saw a large gash on his claymore.

 **[His reaction time is quite praiseworthy. He brought that heavy blade around to block your attack just in time to reduce the damage he took to less than half of what it should have been.]** Ddraig said.

Now's not the time to be impressed!

"What was that supposed to do, whelp?" George snarled as he stood up again and drew his blade back, "It'll take a lot more than that to defeat me!"

"Considering you went arse over kettle just then, that really isn't convincing." I drawl.

 **Taunt Activated!**

"For mocking me, you just signed your death warrant, fool!" the Stray Exorcist Leader growled.

"You were going to kill me anyway, so I fail to see any difference in my situation." I deadpan at him.

"You…!" he growled.

As he started to rant how he was going to kill me, I look around at the melee. Over half of the Stray Exorcists were down, while barely a quarter of my own forces are down. Janne and Rin are holding their own easily and there is nary a scratch on them.

 **Worried about your wife and mistress?**

Shut up Bob!

I sent another couple of [Flying Dragon Waves] at George before using [Mana Burst] to bounce off a conveniently placed Stray Exorcist minion while he smashed the crescents of mana out of the air, putting him off balance because of his heavy weapon.

With a roar, I brought Himari down in a cut across his back. To quote Zoro from One Piece, 'Scars on a swordsman's back are a mark of shame.'

Considering this jerkoff was working for a Fallen Angel, I don't think he deserves much in the way of respect, especially since said Fallen Angel wants me dead. No mercy!

"Y-You bastard!" he roared, wincing at the cut across his shoulder blades.

"It's your own fault for having such a big-ass weapon, dumbass!" I retort with a snort.

"I'll break your swords like twigs!" he snarled back.

Sadly, if he hit them, that would happen. Still, he has to actually hit them for that to happen, so I'm not worried, as I plan to do the hitting around here.

"Look around you, you idiot!" I gesture around at his gravely depleted forces, "Almost all of your men are either dead or defeated and you are now outnumbered! Surrender already!"

"Shitty brat! I would never surrender to heathens!" Father George roared, "Men! Fight to the death! TO THE DEATH, DO YOU HEAR ME!?"

His remaining troops, less than ten, roared back in confirmation as they started to fight with renewed vigour. Not that it would make much of a difference, but they were now promoted from idiots to tremendous pains in the ass.

"You are going down then." I sighed. Seriously, does every single person involved in the supernatural have to be an arrogant egotistical asshole with a chip on his shoulder? The Wendigo, the Mezuki, Arata Nue and now this guy and Raynare? Eeesshh.

"Try it brat!" the Stray Exorcist snarled as he threw his claymore to one side and held his hand out and began to chant something.

"Weapon forged with the spear that drew the blood of Christ, emerge and slay my foe! Joyeuse!"

In front of him, a sword with a shining golden hilt emerged from a rip in space. It looked like a Western sword of some kind, but I wasn't sure why he would go to the trouble of summoning it like this… [Observe]!

 **Joyeuse, the Sword of Charlemagne - Attack Power 1400**

 **The Holy Sword wielded by King Charlemagne, otherwise known as Charles the Great of the Holy Roman Empire. Said to be forged with a fragment of the Lance of Longinus in its hilt, its blade changes colours thirty times a day, each granting a special effect while that colour.**

 **Special Effect: Holy Sword: Deals Triple Damage to all Devils**

 **Colour Roulette: Red: Absorbs all mana-based attacks.**

 **Roulette shift in: 10 Mins**

…oh hell.

 **[Very glad you aren't a Devil right now.]** Ddraig opined.

It's bad enough with that high attack power! Now my Mana attacks are useless!

As George drew the sword from the rift, the blade flashed red. Great. Just great.

"Have at thee!" the priest shouted as he charged me.

"What fucking century are you from?" I couldn't help but ask before I dodged the Holy Sword. I did not want to be near that damn blade and if it was a Holy Sword, there was the chance it could damage Himari and Yukimaru, as they were forged from the blood of Yōkai, Japanese demons.

With a thought, both Himari and Yukimaru were back in my inventory, replaced by Ōgonkai and an ordinary kodachi. The golden aura playing over the katana that I had won from the Thug Leader two days ago told me that it was bloated with power it drew from my accumulated fortune.

This was something I had tested out the previous day. Not only did Ōgonkai draw power from money I had on my person, it drew power from my owned assets as well, and since I owned a fair few buildings in Kuoh City now that I was a Yakuza Boss, I think the sword of greed I had in my hand was approaching critical mass, power-wise.

Even the priest seemed to sense it as he glared at my katana.

"What manner of demonic blade is that, whelp?!" he snarled warily. He shifted his grip on Joyeuse as he talked, ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Dunno if it's demonic or what, but it's the blade that will cause your death." I reply with a shrug before charging in and attacking him. As long as that red aura played over the sword, my mana attacks were null and void, so I had to do this the old-fashioned way.

Although, when he blocked Ōgonkai with Joyeuse, George grunted with surprise and was forced back a few paces. He even shook his hands after he disengaged from me.

"You…!" he seethed, a pinch of genuine fear seeping into his voice.

"I told you; underestimate me at your own peril." I said coldly, "Now let's finish this."

And so the dance began again, his single red blade blocking my golden blade as I mercilessly kept on the offensive, while the kodachi scored shallow hit after shallow hit on his chest, his arms and his cheek. I made sure to reopen the wounds that had been healed by his application of healing potion earlier on.

"Damn…you!" the priest gasped as his pure white clothes became stained with his lifeblood all over again.

"On second thought…I think I'll capture you and get my boys to make you give up information on your network of Stray Priests." I muse aloud as I continue to cut the man down to size. It wasn't that he was unskilled with a blade; he was parrying and deflecting roughly half of my attacks. The issue was that ever time he did so, the force behind each blow of Ōgonkai almost knocked Joyeuse from his hands, leaving an opening in his guard for me to exploit before he recovered.

"Never!" he gasped.

"Not your choice to make, dumbass." With that, I really turn up the heat on him, attacking twice as much and slightly faster. There was only a handful of minutes left before Joyeuse switched to a different colour and thus, a different ability to contend with, so I wanted this over and done with before that happened.

"To…to think that…I've been pushed this far!" George gasped, "By a heretic!"

"Technically, I was an Agnostic before Ddraig woke up." I pointed out, "Now shut up and die!"

With one final thrust, I buried the kodachi into his shoulder, disabling it. As George reeled in pain, I kicked the Holy Sword from his hands before hitting his face with the flat of Ōgonkai, breaking his nose and, much to my satisfaction, breaking some of his teeth.

Sweet, sweet revenge.

Deciding to have pity on the man, I knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head, allowing him to crumple to the ground unconscious.

"Rin, report." I called out.

"About seventy percent of the Exorcists have either been knocked unconscious or have surrendered." Rin said as she came up next to me, "Of the remaining thirty percent, half of them are dying and the remaining half are dead. Our forces have only taken a handful of casualties and no deaths. Most wounds are relatively minor, while one or two require hospitalisation to deal with them."

"That's something of a relief." I dismiss my swords as I speak and pick up Joyeuse, the blade having changed to a royal blue colour while Rin and I had been talking. Stowing the Holy Sword in my inventory, I looked around at the carnage, I started issuing orders.

"Right you hellions! Grab the priests and strip them of their weapons and armour! Especially those Lightsabers, we can use those! Dump the corpses in the river and hogtie the live ones to take back to base. I'll want to know what they've been up to in my town, so no breaking their jaws!"

"Right Aniki!" came back at me in a rumble.

"Janne, Rin you two are with me." I continued, "We have unfinished business with Raynare."

"Hai, Ryū-sama." Rin said as she brandished her weapons.

"Right behind you, dear." Janne answered in unison with her Chinese frenemy.

"Good. Now to change into something more…suitable." I smirk, "[Equip Armour Set 1]!"

In a flash, I was wearing the new armour I had bought specifically to face Raynare. First, a black bodysuit had minimal defensive value against physical attacks, but really defended well against holy weapons. Next was the cuirass, spaulders and gauntlets. They were a set that granted bonuses for all being equipped at the same time AND most of the armour was red, with the right gauntlet being the same emerald green as the gems on the [Dragon Booster].

The torso armour protected me against physical impacts. The cuirass even had a throat guard to protect the front of my neck from being ventilated by a quick stab.

The only thing I kept from my previous outfit were my combat boots. Thick, resilient and with enough Durability to climb a mountain on, no improvement was needed.

Once I was satisfied that everything was where it was supposed to be, I led Rin and Janne towards where Raynare had retreated to, a gazebo in the middle of the park, where the Fallen Angel was caught between glaring at us and gawping at the pile of her defeated minions.

"Looks like she's still at the 'What the hell just happened here?' stage." Janne pined in.

"No, no, she's at the 'How did this boy do this to my plan?' stage." Rin disagreed, "You can clearly tell that by the vein throbbing in her temple."

"You're both wrong; the look of fury on her face makes it obvious that she's at the 'I'll kill you for this!' stage." I countered, smiling merrily as I stoked the flames of Raynare's rage.

Her face was a picture, twisted into an ugly caricature of hatred and fury. The black wings she had were flexing every so often, a sure sign of irritation. Her fists were clenching and flexing involuntarily, likely wishing they were wrapped around my throat and squeezing as they did so.

"Y-You…what are you?!" she seethed at me, "You showed no signs of knowing anything about the supernatural, nothing at all! So how?!"

"Funny thing about that." I shrug as I answer her, nonchalance in every aspect of my being, "You didn't do a very good fuckin job of observing me, so you didn't know that I killed a Wendigo in order to awaken my Sacred Gear, or that I killed a Raijin Yōkai in order to save Janne and take over his troops only a couple of days ago. So, in essence, it's your own entire fault for choosing to kill me rather than observe me as Azazel told you to."

The dropping of her jaw told me that my inside knowledge of her orders and what she had chosen to do with those orders. Nothing like rattling people's cages with knowledge of their motives to force them to make a mistake.

"H-How…?!"

"Trade secret." I told her, "Now, I'm giving you one chance to surrender or we'll be forced to beat you down."

At this, she scoffed loudly. "You? Beat me down? Hah! What can three lowly humans do to me? I am a Fallen Angel! I am above you foolish humans!"

"Jeez, these supernatural types are exactly the same!" I complained, "Fine then, the hard way it is! [Dragon Booster]!"

 **[Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the [Boost!] status! Your power has been doubled!**

As my arm shifted into its real form, Raynare gaped at me in disbelief before laughing.

"Nice try boy, but there is no Sacred Gear with that name!"

"Yeah, but that's just my activation phrase for it since I've kinda fused with it." I retorted with a smirk, "The Sacred Gear's name is the [Boosted Gear]. Sound familiar?"

"Th-the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet?! One of the Thirteen Longinus?!" she shrieked, looking like she was about to have a heart attack. Can Angels even have a heart attack?

 **Dunno.**

 **[Doubtful]**

As I pondered this matter, Raynare pulled herself together.

"F-fine! So what if you're the Red Dragon Emperor? I'm a superior and more experienced fighter!" she stated, sounding like she was trying to convince herself rather than intimidate us.

"Are you going to talk us to death or actually fight, Fallen Angel?" I sneered at her.

 **Taunt Activated!**

"Bastard!" Raynare roared and charged at me, a spear of ruby-coloured light appearing in her hands as she did so.

I used [Mana Burst] to leap over her and then summoned Ōgonkai and the nameless Kodachi to send a couple of [Flying Dragon Waves] at her back She had the presence of mind to shoot forwards a with large flap of her wings in order to avoid my attack…only to run into a hail of bullets from Rin.

Much to my surprise, they bounced off her skin like they were made of rubber.

[Angels and Fallen Angels have the ability to make their skin as hard as reinforced steel.] Ddraig informed me, [The more wings they have, the more resilient they are to mortal weaponry.]

That would have been nice to know beforehand!

"Rin, her skin's resistant to ordinary bullets!" I shout as I charge Raynare again, "Change over to the special rounds!"

"Understood!" Rin acknowledged my order even as she ejected her current magazines of ammo, which were merely tungsten-tipped rounds, for the special ones that I had bought on Abyss Auction for her just this morning.

They were technically just ordinary bullets, but had Enochian script engraved into each and every round that was specifically designed to cancel out or limit the effectiveness of holy defences…such as those employed by the Fallen.

The bullets were named, rather ironically, 'Castigator Rounds' and could be bought for almost any calibre of gun you could name, except for artillery.

 **Artillery are not guns, you know.**

Whatever.

 **[Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the 'Boost!' status! Your power has been doubled!**

"You lowly human trash!" Raynare snarled and hurled her land at Rin, who was still in the middle of reloading.

"[Spiking Strike]!" Janne snarled, sending a foot long length of solid stone at the light spear, intercepting it just a couple of feet shy of Rin, covering her in rock dust.

"Get your head in the game, sleepyhead!" Janne ordered, "Don't make me have to clean up your mess!"

"Tch. Get over yourself!" Rin retorted as she shook dust from her hair and face, "Now, let's go!"

With a roar, she opened fire with both SMG's and caught Raynare's leg as she flew up into the sky. A shriek of pain from the Fallen Angel confirmed that her [Steel Skin] was, at the very least reduced in effectiveness to the point that she was actually receiving damage from Rin's weapons now.

"Issei, give me a boost!" Janne called as she ran towards me.

"On it." I reply. Extending my hand to her, Janne jumps on top of it and I hurl her at a very surprised Raynare so fast that the black-haired girl in a BDSM outfit has no time to react to my wife's sudden attack.

"Eat this, bitch!" Janne growls as she lays into Raynare with her sword, even going so far as to smack her around with her sheath/shield. Even I had to wince at the viciousness of Janne's attack.

With a loud 'Clang!', Raynare started to descend to terra firma after a shield bash to the side of her head left her Stunned.

"Rin, let's get this bitch!" I shout as I draw back my swords to strike.

"At your command, Ryū-sama." my Second-in-Command responded as she tracked the descending Angel with her weapons and eyes.

"Steady…NOW!" I shouted, "[Double Flying Dragon Wave]!"

As I launched my twin crimson crescents, Rin sent a controlled burst of fire at Raynare, striking her between her wings and making her shriek in pain, even as she was struck across her front by my own attack, making her redouble the volume of those shrieks.

 **Eeesshhh, she's a screamer. Wait until you bed her.**

Shut UP, Bob!

Raynare smacked into the ground with a meaty thud, although she had enough presence of mind to flare her wings lightly so she didn't land headfirst on the concrete.

"Y-Y-You…kill you…I'LL KILL YOU!" she raged as she staggered to her feet, a pair of light swords appearing in her hands.

"Bitch, please." I scoff, "You're getting your ass handed to you on a silver platter and you think you can kill me still? Is being delusional a cause for an Angel to Fall, cause you seem to fit the bill if that's the case!"

 **Taunt Activated!**

The Fallen Angel let out a wordless scream before charging at me. I met her blade to blade and the final phase of the battle began.

I had to give her credit, she did have some skill with those swords. I had a couple of close calls with them as they came perilously close to my manhood on several occasions.

I kinda need those!

My bodysuit was up to the task of fending off the worst of those attacks that did make it past my guard, but I still lost a hundred HP with each it. I shudder to think what the attacks would have done if I was wearing only my mana-enhanced clothes.

 **You would have been just as holy as an angel, but in in a different way.**

Enough with the bad jokes!

"Enough with this pathetic sword!" Raynare snarled and trapped my kodachi between her blades, snapping it in half like a twig. Not surprising considering it was just an ordinary blade against two holy light swords.

Leaping back, I thrust my hand forwards and shouted, "[Flame Scar]!"

A fireball was created in my hand, and it unleashed three streams of red fire at the surprised Fallen Angel. Nevertheless, she reacted quickly and put up a shield of light by crossing her two swords, just before the flames reached her.

I gritted my teeth at the flames struck the shield and were arrested in their progress by it. Sadly, this was to be expected with a level 1 skill; it just didn't have the oomph to break through the shield…on its own at least.

 **[Boost!]**

 **You have been affected by the 'Boost!' status! Your power has been doubled!**

"[Boosted Gear Gift]!" I shouted, directing the accumulated energy of the [Dragon Booster] into the flames.

[Explosion!]

The red flames shifted, turning crimson and grew to thrice their original size. I could feel the heat from them increase as well, and so did Raynare, whose eyes widened in shock.

With a loud crack, both Raynare's shield and swords disappeared in a burst of fire, sending her skidding backwards.

 **[Reset!]**

 **You have expended the power of the 'Boost!' status! All cumulative 'Boost!' status effects lost!**

I charged in with a snarl, my eyes locked on Raynare's panicked orbs as she belatedly and futilely attempted to flee.

"How…how can this be?!" she wailed as I discarded Yukimaru to grab her and drag her down with my right hand, "I-I'm a superior-!"

"-Fucking Fallen Angel! So fly, bitch!" I roar and slam my [Dragon Booster] into her stomach and, indeed, making her fly through the air to smash through the gazebo's support columns and collapsing the roof onto her.

I panted for a moment at the sheer relief of having dealt with the threat to my life from the Fallen Angels…for the moment. Even a Fallen would be unconscious from a hit to the stomach like that, which had been my plan from the get-go.

Walking over to the collapsed pile of wood, I spotted a leather-clad leg sticking out of it and grabbed it, unearthing an unconscious, cut-up, but very much alive, Raynare.

"Rin, tie the bitch up so she can't run, fly or teleport away." I order, "The last thing we need is her doing a runner."

A screen popped up after Raynare was bound like an S&M test dummy.

 **Congratulations!**

 **Downfall Showdown: You have successfully defeated the Fallen Angel Raynare and her entourage of Stray Exorcists, as well as taken the Stray Exorcist Leader and the Fallen Angel Herself prisoner!**

 **Quest Completion reward: + 10000 EXP**

 **\+ 10000 money.**

 **Armour Item: [Black Shield of the False Grail]**

 **You have earned the title 'Swordhunter' for stealing the weapons of three of your foes!**

 **You have Levelled Up!**

 **You have 5 Additional Attribute Points to spend!**

 **[Duel Wield] has levelled up! 8-10!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has levelled up! 16-19!**

 **[Flying Dragon Wave] has levelled up! 15-17!**

 **[Flame Scar] has levelled up! 1-5!**

 **[Iron Skin] has levelled up! 1-3!**

 **Taunt has levelled up! 2-5!**

I had to whistle at that. A pretty large amount of skills had levelled up.

"Err…Issei…we have company…" Janne said uneasily.

I turned around and saw…

Oh hell. Akeno-sempai, Koneko-chan and Yumi-chan.

Why me?


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Warning! Warning! Author does not own Highschool DXD; I repeat Author does not own Highschool DXD!**

* * *

"Well…this is awkward." I said as I was sitting in a luxurious sofa, I changed my armour to the clothes I was wearing before. Surrounded by the school celebrities popularly known as the Occult Research Club.

Today was the day after the battle I had fought against Raynare and her holy goon squad, and I was in a pinch.

On my left side was the crimson-haired Rias Gremory with an eager look on her face as if a famous movie star was in front of her, jumping up and down on her seat with a smile on her face. On my right was Akeno Himejima, a buxom third-year with her long black hair in a long ponytail and violet eyes, with a curious smile on her beautiful face, and she was making tea.

In one of the seats to my front was Koneko Tōjō, a first-year girl with short white hair and hazel eyes, staring at me with an emotionless look on her face while eating what looked like a red bean paste bun. And, in another chair to her left, was Yumi Kiba, gazing at me apologetically.

If you guys are wondering where Janne and Rin where, well they were just back at the house so that they didn't have to deal with this aftermath bullshit.

"Would you like some coffee?" Akeno-sempai offered me some coffee, which I wordlessly agreed to as I held the cup of tea and smelt the sweet scent of vanilla.

Not bad Akeno-sempai, not bad at all, but this will not compare to my coffee that's for sure!

"My intuition was right, Akeno, he really is unique!" said Rias excitedly, shaking from all the excitement.

Oi, oi, you had better sit still before you explode, Rias-sempai.

"Fu fu fu, he really is." Akeno giggled, hiding her smiling lips behind her smooth hand.

"He's still a pervert." Koneko answered with a close to a monotone voice. Nevertheless, it had the effect that would make everyone heart's melt.

Hey, I'm not a pervert…

I'm a SUPER PERVERT!

But unfortunately, I can't be a pervert right now, since you people are going to interrogate me and everything. And I get the feeling every husband and man has to deal with…the sense of fear of their girlfriends and wives finding out about their "activities".

Yeah, you guys will get it too someday, so don't count yourselves out. If I burn, you burn with me!

 **Hunger Games reference?**

And I do not regret it.

"I'm so sorry about this." Yumi said with a sheepish smile.

"Ah, no problem." I replied.

"You're Hyoudou Issei, right?" Rias asked with a smile, after calming down from her excitement.

"Uh, yes. Last I checked I'm pretty sure that I'm Issei Hyodou."

"What are you?"

Seriously?

"Human, duh."

"Sorry, maybe I should rephrase that a bit. What I'm saying is…" She then leaned closer to me.

"WHO are you? How were you able to do all that, the moves, the skill, the power? I thought you were a normal human up until now, but with how you fought that Fallen Angel…are you really a human?"

"…was that a rhetorical question?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Ara ara. Buchou, He really refuses to answer." Akeno-sempai said, her lips drawn back into a smile.

"…I could beat the answers out of him." Koneko took out her lollipop, and bumped her fists together.

"…Okay, if you really think you could beat me up. I would like to see that, little girl." I said, as I blankly looked at her, unamused. I mean seriously? Just a few words and now a little girl is trying to beat me up? Talk about hospitality.

Oh wait, this was an interrogation. Never mind I said that.

"…You're pissing me off." She said as she glared at me, as she crushed a nearby metal paperweight with her bare hands.

"…Wow." I then clapped my hands for her. A deadpan expression on my face "Super Strength? Whoopee, I is excited. You see my face? This is the face of a person who is excited."

I've seen a Wendigo crush my old weapons with his bare hands and destroy my left arm and leg, I've had a Raijin Yōkai destroy my eye, and the fight I had with the father George guy and the Raynare bitch just now makes me want to laugh at her poor effort to intimidate me.

"You…" Her glaring intensified.

"So you crush metal, so what? Every fuckin' thing I killed had more skill than you. I've expected more from…"this" but if this is all you can do, then I'm afraid to say this doll but…you're going to need a lot more than brute strength to kill me right now. And with the figh-no, war I just had a while ago…" I then leaned my face towards her, glaring with full force. "…Do I honestly look like I want to give a fuck right about now? Do I?"

My glaring then intensified as my teeth were now showing, snarling into a growling motion.

"Answer me! Do I look like I give a fuckin SHIT about you right now!? Do I fucking look like it!?"

"…" She leaned back, and then lowered her head down.

 **Wow…Dick move dude, dick move.**

I know, I am an asshole. But hey, I was tired with all of these supernatural assholes and dicks underestimating me and now I have to deal with this one? Talk about arrogance.

 **True.**

However, I don't understand why I'm only just now having these kinds of impulses.

 **[You must be having a little bit of a dragon's personality added in you now; none of us dragons would stand for a weakling calling US weak.]**

…So it's your fault I'm having these kind of thing.

 **[Exact-hey!]**

I'll check up on you guys later.

"*sigh*Look, I'm sorry if I offended you or anything." I said as I soften my expression. "I'm just tired as fuck of all these bullshit that other supernatural beings keep giving me, so if you could please forgive me, I'm sorry for offending you."

"…I'm sorry as well, Issei-senpai." She replied as she looked up to see me, a small smile at her face.

I smiled back at her.

"Now then, now that the argument is over." Rias said smiling apologetically at me. "I would like to ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead." I leaned back to relax in the sofa.

"Would you like to become one of us?"

…I don't know why, but I suddenly thought of a great idea. This will come back to bite me later but hey I think it would be worth it.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a confused face.

"Say, Issei-kun, do you want to become a Devil?"

"…Huh?" I said, still looking confused.

Rias turned to look at each of her club members, nodding to each other, as they stood up in front of me. "We're talking about this." Jet-black leathery wings then appeared on their back, flaunting their status as Devils.

…Wow, they actually showed me their wings without thinking of the repercussions huh. Time to show the outcome.

"…Ah…ah…" My face was stuck in confused expression, before it slowly shifted to horror.

"Aaaaaaah!" I shouted in horror, startling them.

"I-Issei-kun?" Rias asked me with a worried tone.

I got out of the sofa by jumping over it until I rolled and scurried backwards until my back hit the wall, near the door. "W-wings! R-real Devils! They're going to eat my soul!" I then stood up and ran towards the door, opening and closing it with a "bang". Leaving them with shocked expressions.

"…What just happened?"

* * *

"Whew, well that was a fucking pinch!" I said as I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I was now standing outside of the academy gates after jumping over the wall, and thus, bypassing the guards.

 **Do you really expect them to believe that?**

Hey! That was perfect!

 **I've seen better acting from Kenny Loverson.**

 **[Who's Kenny Loverson?]**

 **Exactly.**

Tch, everyone is a critic.

 **So what you gonna do now?**

I'm going back to the café; I am the owner after all.

So I just walked back to the café, thinking about the things I was going to do, and when I was in front of the café, I stood still when a thought hit me.

Uh, Bob. How many stat points do I have?

Let me check… 70 points, why?

I think I'm going to put some points into some of them. Possibly increase WIS as well.

I went inside the café, flipped the sign "closed", and sat in one of the seats and looked up my screen.

 **Issei Hyoudou – Level 32**

 **The Gamer**

 **[Married]**

 **Title: Dokuganryū**

 **HP: 2530/2530**

 **MP: 1579/1579**

 **HP Regen: 5 (5 HP) per minute**

 **MP Regen: 4 (4 MP) per minute**

 **STR: 140 (6+)**

 **VIT: 178 (8+)**

 **DEX: 68 (7+)**

 **INT: 89 (6+)**

 **WIS: 20(8+)**

 **LUC: 12**

 **Points: 70**

 **Money: 214360**

… I really need to check on my status screen often, because I'm seriously beginning to question how they keep becoming bigger.

 **You should, because I'd swear to God Himself if He were still alive for some reason you don't notice the windows appearing every time you do something.**

I then increased WIS by 10 making it a 30, LUC by 10 making it a 22, and DEX by 10 points making it a 74. I also gave STR a boost when I gave it 20 points increasing into a 160. I now have 20 points now that I think about it.

Hmm, what's this I see?

When I exit the status tab, I saw a new one, it was labelled "Titles" and I pressed on it.

 **Title: Dokuganryū**

 **Available Titles:**

 **Sekiryūtei**

 **Crazy 88**

 **Army of One**

 **Swordhunter**

Bob, what is this shit?

 **These are all of your titles that you have received for doing something, duh.**

Well, do they have any perks?

 **Yes, for example 'Swordhunter' increases your chance of getting, stealing, or taking a new weapon by +20%, while 'Army of One' lets you defeat and withstand large group of enemies longer.**

Whoa, seriously!?

 **Yep, but 'Crazy 88' doesn't help you that much, it just lets you kill things faster.**

Oh. Well what about Dokuganryū and Sekiryūtei?

 **You're already the 'Sekiryūtei' so it doesn't do much, but 'Dokuganryū' lets you lead your forces against other army's as well as giving you a badass reputation as a Yakuza Boss.**

OK, let's have a look at that.

 **Hold on for a moment…**

 **Processing…done.**

 **'Army' Tab added (Only available while the title 'Dokuganryū' is equipped).**

Pressing the tab, I blink as a large screen pops up. There are several sub-sections. 'Overall Forces', 'Officers', 'Troop Division', 'Uniforms', 'Soldier Training' and 'Equipment'.

Quickly flicking through the tabs I was rather impressed by the range of options I had, as well as the information I had available. I could access all of Janne and Rin's stats and battle equipment from the 'Officers' tab, divide the soldiers under my command into units in the 'Troop Division' tab, as well as assign officers to them. Hell, I could even design a battle uniform!

Gotta love this level of customisation.

 **Well, that's all of it. So what you gonna do today?**

Hmm…you know what? I'm just going to take a page out of Ryū Misaki's book and tackle a map a higher level then mine.

 **What about that 'Nurarihyon's Castle' map you've got?**

…Read the word NURARIHYON in the sentence, I'm pretty sure he's just there sitting in his throne, waiting to rip me to shreds for what I did to that Mezuki.

 **True.**

I then tapped on Abyss Auction and began searching for a new map.

No not that one, no not that one either, that one's underwater so hell no, aww fuck no I ain't choosing that one!

I searched and searched before I found the most suitable one for me.

It was known as 'The Catacombs', and it was level 30-50, hmm this one is probably going to be hard but hey, I might level up more.

With a shrug, I added it to the basket, and decided to exit the map tab and look for items in the 'Items' tab.

I found some health potions and phoenix tears while searching and added five of them to the basket, and found some new things in stock as well.

 **Adrenaline – 350**

 **Mana Potion – 100**

 **Elixir – 300**

I got a bunch of them, 6 at most, and added them to the basket as well. I then pressed the 'buy; button and went to the nearest window and opened it. I saw the flying saucer fly towards me and drop off the box in my anticipating hands before going off into the sky.

After I unloaded the package, I checked the contents. The Mana potion was a blue vial while the Elixir was a large green vial. The adrenaline was a-

"Is this a syringe?" I asked myself when I looked at it. It was a small red syringe with its contents shining at me. I was pretty surprised to find a normal thing within all that fantasy stuff.

I then checked the map I bought and it showed me that the entrance…

Was at a rundown factory in Kuoh city. Huh, another weird place for an entrance to a dungeon that's for sure.

* * *

I was now standing in front of the factory, wearing the armour I used against Raynare. After walking through the city, I found the place near a bunch of abandoned factories in the outskirts of the city. When I went inside the place was crawling with the air of death and decay.

Yeesh, this place was not something I recommend for someone starting or looking for business. Take it from me guys as I am a businessman myself, I was managing the stores and places I owned as a Yakuza Boss.

 **Barely, you're just and no more able to manage them all. You are doing a good job for a Rookie though.**

Thanks, Bob.

 **You're welcome.**

I then found the entrance at the end of the building, the metal door was filled with rust. In addition, when I opened it, it made a creaking sound before the bolts got loose and it fell into the ground with a thud.

Talk about rusted bolts, right guys?

… **No, just…no.**

 **[I don't get it.]**

Whatever, everybody has to be a critic, don't they?

 **Yes, yes we do.**

 **[Yep, it's for the best.]**

I just grumbled under my breath and entered the dungeon, when I was inside I was greeted with a dark, barely lit room. Inside, the room had large bookcases filled with books and other shit. There was a table there as well, and it was containing several things like papers, vials, and books. In the middle of the floor was a large red square carpet.

What stood out of all them was a small mirror and a goblet filled with some sort of red liquid just sitting there at the table, unmoving and waiting. When I went near to the table there was a piece of paper underneath the goblet so I picked it up and read it.

 **"Thou must drink from thy goblet of Fauron, to enter the deadly and hollow Catacombs."**

 **Hey, that rhymed!**

Not now, Bob.

I then picked up the mentioned goblet, and looked at the swirling contents.

 **[You gonna do it?]** Ddraig asked me.

Aayup. Might as well try it at least, I mean what could possibly go wrong?

 **[Good luck then.]**

I then drank from the goblet, the strange taste entered through my throat, leaving a burning and bitter taste in my mouth.

…Huh. Nothing happen-

I then felt my pupils dilate as I felt my mouth parch from a tingling numbness, I felt like my body was being flayed and growing cold, I felt the twisting and turning of my organs that were being stretched and destroyed and my hands were turning cold. I was screaming very loud as I held onto my head with my hands before I drop down to my knees, my mouth screaming and heaving for fresh air.

That was all I could remember before my eyes rolled and I passed out.

* * *

 **[Partner, partner wake up!]**

"Grrraaah…what…the holy and unholy fuck…happened?" I groaned out, gritting my teeth.

I woke up from my slumber, and felt my face twisted as another large groan escaped me. For some reason, I was lying down on the floor with my head facing the left side. Pushing myself into a sitting position with my legs crossed, I decided to consult the voices in my head.

Ddraig, Bob what the fuck just happened? I feel like shit right about now.

 **Uh…Issei, to tell you the truth…Ddraig, you wanna do this?**

 **[*sigh* Fine, let me do it.]** Ddraig sighed out.

"What? What exactly…happened? And why the fuck do I feel…dead?" I asked them both while I massaged my temples. I felt…cold…lifeless, as if my body was nothing but a corpse.

 **[Yeah, about that partner…there's a reason why that mirror was at the table. I suggest you go look at it.]**

I then got up wordlessly, got in front of the table, picked up the small mirror and looked at the reflection of myself.

…Oh.

Yeah…well, this situation is fucked up.

What I saw in the mirror was my face, but it was different.

My skin was now a dark grey colour; small patches of skin were missing all over my face but only a little. The most notable one was a small patch of flesh missing from my left side, showing the uncovered part of my teeth. My hair was now a darker brown colour and my eyes had dark bags under them. Where my right eye used to be was now a pupil-less glow with a dim, white ghostlight while an eyepatch was still on my left eye.

When I removed my gauntlet from my left hand, my hand was also a dark grey and my fingers were fleshless, showing me my skeletal appendages instead. When I touched my skin it felt…rubbery and totally gross. My arms and legs were slightly longer and thinner, and damn if I didn't look like a WoW undead race avatar…

…Guys, explain to me right now, why I look like ONE OF THE FUCKING UNDEAD!?

A window appeared before me.

 **Congratulations! You have become an 'Undead'.**

NOT HELPING!

 **[Well partner, let me explain. You see when you drank from that cup you were turned into…that.]**

S-seriously!?

 **Yep, but don't worry.**

What the fuck do you mean don't worry! I'm a living corpse for god's sake!

 **The Gamer, remember?**

What are you…Titles! Of course!

"[Title]!" I said in a hurried pace, then another window appeared.

 **Title: Undead**

 **Would you like to change title?**

 **Yes/No**

"Oh thank god." I sighed in exhaustion. I did not want to stay as dead person thank you very much!

That and I thought I would have died as a virgin but I didn't. So hallelujah!

 **[You would be worried about your own virginity rather than your own death?]** Ddraig incredulously asked before sighing. **[Oh who am I kidding, of course you would.]**

Wait…do I still have it?

…Phew, still got it.

 **Dude, too much information!**

Well, excuuuse me. I would be glad that I kept "that" instead of having none of it at all.

 **I can't really blame you for that, but hey, you know something?**

What is it?

 **I can now make undead puns at you!**

"…Oh god." I palmed my face and groaned out in realization and misery, more bad puns!

 **[Well, we now can be certain of one thing.]**

"Oh and what's that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

 **[…Kore wa Zombie desu ka and Sankarea lied to all of us. Zombies do NOT look like Ayumu and Rea that's for sure.]**

…True. But does this mean I can't die?

 **Oh no, you can still die.**

I thought I was a zombie?

 **Is your HP 0? No, no it's not so I'm pretty sure you can die. It's just that you can't feel the excruciating and agonizing pain of death.**

…So this 'Undead' perk is not feeling pain?

 **Well, almost, you can still feel pain though. That and you would never need to eat, drink, sleep, rest, or even breathe air. Also the fact that you would never feel physically tired and you possess tremendous willpower.**

Whoa, that's fuckin awesome!

But I'm not going to stay dead for long, so no thanks.

I then pressed the no button, making the window vanish as I put my gauntlet back on and looked around the room. There should be something here that would lead me to the dungeon.

I then went to one of the large bookshelves and started to remove all of the books from their places.

And yes, I was going for the 'check the bookcase for a hidden door' move.

…No, not this one…not this one either…fuck, this one is a dud too…got it!

I received a 'click' when I removed a book from its place. Making the bookshelf move out of its way, revealing two large iron doors standing behind it.

 **You know, you could have used your lamp to see behind it, right?**

…Fuck.

A window then appeared in front of me.

 **Warning! You are about to enter the Dungeon 'The Catacombs'. Once you enter, you can only exit by clearing the dungeon.**

 **Do you wish to proceed?**

 **Yes/No**

Well, I'm here to level up so yeah, why not?

I pressed the yes button, making the window vanish again. I then got in front of the door and pushed it with my left hand, opening both the doors all the way. Showing me a small hallway with torches on the sides.

I then proceeded to walk through the hallway, looking around the sight.

Why did I become a zombie again? I mean what's the poin-

CLICK

I heard a clicking sound, and looked to my feet; my left foot was stepping on a pressure plate.

…Son of a-

SHNK!

"OWW!" I shouted in pain as a bunch of black spikes appeared from the wall, piercing me through the body before quickly receding back into the wall, making me fall onto my knees.

 **Ooooh, so that's why you're supposed to be undead.**

 **[Why am I getting a Dark Souls vibe?]** Ddraig wondered out loud.

I then got back up, and started to run through the small hallway.

Not a good idea.

WHOOSH!

"OWW!"

A pair of fast-closing wall crushers almost makes me 2-D.

PCHINK!

"ARGH!"

A series of wall-launched arrows turns me into a walking pincushion.

WOOSH!

"HOT! HOT! HOT!"

A carpet of black flames that I had to run over.

BLAM!

"OOF!"

A falling ceiling again brings me close to being 2-D, just from a different direction.

SHNK!

"FUCK!"

A large guillotine almost cuts me in half, from below.

…I hate this place.

Note to self, order a trap detection skill at some point, since my [Detect Bloodthirst] skill can't detect traps.

After I got through the hallway and chugged down an HP Potion, I was inside another room. Standing there pissed off as arrows where stuck in some parts of my body, little dent's and black ash appeared and showed on some parts of my armour as well.

"…I'm going to kill someone." I snarl as I pull out the arrow that was stuck inside my head and crush it.

The room I was standing in was rather large and was filled with bones, and standing in the centre right in front of me, were three skeletons. They were all using steel swords.

 **Skeleton Warrior – Level 31**

 **A Skeleton who has been crudely raised from death by a Necromancer, they can only be destroyed by Holy attacks.**

Shit, seriously!? Wait I got that Joyeuse sword the priest gave me!

I summoned the Holy Sword into my left hand. Wielding it with two hands as the blade was now giving off a blue colour, I pounced on the nearest skeleton, the one on the left.

CLANG!

The skeleton parried my attack and we started to hack and slash at each other. It was slowly being destroyed before I lunged and stabbed it in the chest, it broke into a pile of bones and armour.

I then sprinted on to the other two, who were now fully aware of me, and gave a heavy slam against the first one on its head with my fist, making it fall down, dazed. The other one began to run at me before I gave it a roundhouse kick, it was pushed back and I ran at it before I gave a right haymaker across its face.

BAM!

It flew back before falling into the ground face first, and I started stabbing at its back many times. With a final stab, its body broke into pieces, defeated.

I turned around to see the last skeleton warrior, trying to get up.

I simply walked over to it, holding Joyeuse tightly, before holding her with both hands and sliced at the skeletons neck.

WHOOSH!

The head rolled out of the way as its body and armour broke into a pile.

 **You have levelled up!**

 **You have 5 Additional Attribute Points to spend!**

Nice.

 **Warning! The horde is coming! You will be assaulted by waves of enemies.**

Wait, what!? Horde!?

The floor beneath me began to crack and crumble, before being destroyed sending me plundering to the dark abyss below along with the bones in the room.

When I hit the floor with a 'thud', I got up very quickly and looked around my surroundings.

I was in another very large dark room. When a bunch of torches were lit up, I saw was in a very large room which had the inside interior of a dark citadel with the floor being filled with nothing but mountains of skulls and weapons.

 **[Holy shit! This place is filled with nothing but bones!]**

"Yeah, I can see that Ddraig. I'm standing on top of them." I said blandly, I swear to god this was getting weirder and weirder.

 **Talk about getting a boner, eh?**

Shut up, Bob!

I sensed something from behind and ducked, a black fireball flying above where my head was supposed to be. I turned around to see my assailants.

They were a group of skeletons, about ten or so, all wearing robes and wielding staffs. The one at the front was a bit larger than the others, wearing much more refined black robes then them and his staff was ebony black instead of brown.

 **Skeletal Sorcerer – Level 37**

 **One of the three undead adventurers who ventured into the Catacombs, he is a part of the Skeletal Trio, who protect the Necromancer Fauron but is now under new employment. Highly resilient against Divine attacks.**

 **Skeleton Mage – Level 32**

 **A Skeleton who has been raised from the dead by a Necromancer, this one was learned in the arts of magic while alive. Resilient against Divine attacks.**

You fucking serious!?

I equipped Yukimaru to my right hand while Joyeuse was switched to my left.

"[Flying Dragon Wave]!" I shouted as I shot off my attack at them, one of them caught the brunt of it and flew off, but the others proceeded to put up mana shields, defending themselves from my attack.

The Skeletal Sorcerer then produced several small black flames, and shot them at me. I had to slice at all of them but one of them manages to hit me in the chest. Making me go 'oomph'.

I then ran at them, running along the mountains of bones, dodging and jumping from their black flames until I was in front of them.

"Hyaah!" I sliced Joyeuse at one of them, cutting it in half while the others were trying to move away but were still close enough for me to attack.

I hacked and slashed wildly at all of them, destroying every each and one of them until the skeletal sorcerer was the only one left.

It didn't look too happy. In fact, if it were alive right now it would be glaring daggers at me.

It proceeded to put its staff up and conjured what appeared to be spears of black fire, before throwing them at me with a gesture.

I rolled out of the attacks trajectory and sent out a couple of [Flame Scars] at him, the skeleton just merely deflected them with its staff.

I sprinted over to it and I did a downward strike at its head.

CLANG!

The Skeleton parried my attack with his staff and we were now struggling to push each other off.

I broke off the attack and delivered a strong, downward strike to the right. Slashing its shoulder before twisting my wrist to swing the sword back up, retracing the trajectory of the first strike with a motion similar to a golf club's swing.

Seeing that the undead sorcerer expected that little feint, I chose to it with my left shoulder, followed by a vertical swing at the swaying target and another tackle using my right shoulder. Finally, I horizontally slashed at its neck from left to right, cutting its head off and breaking it into pieces.

The remains all disappeared into miasma, and left me with a few piles of loot that I picked up.

The first thing I picked up was a dark necklace, with 5 yellow beads on it.

 **Death Necklace – Accessory**

 **A necklace worn by the skeletal sorcerer, it is highly resistant to death attacks. It has a special effect that causes all hits to give a 0.5% accuracy buff in all styles.**

Nice! I unequipped the [Mark of the Underdog] and proceeded to equip this one. I looked over the rest of the loot, a few health potions here and there and a pile of money.

 **You gained 1200 Yen!**

 **You gained 3 Health Potions!**

I then heard the sound of rattling bones and quickly looked behind me.

Appearing and reforming behind me were three skeletons wielding bows, the one at the far end was wearing leather armour and wielding a dark bow.

 **Skeletal Archer – Level 35**

 **One of the three undead adventurers who ventured into the Catacombs, he is a part of the Skeletal Trio, who protect the necromancer Fauron but is now under new employment.**

 **Skeleton Archer – Level 30**

 **A Skeleton who has been raised from the dead by a necromancer, this one used archery in life.**

No resistance, eh?

…Oh shit!

I had to run and hide behind a mound of bones when they were all preparing to fire the arrows. A volley of arrows appeared above me and pierced the ground around me.

"Bob, what the fuck do I do now!?" I asked hastily as one arrow flew at me, almost hitting me in the arm.

 **Use the shield you got as loot yesterday!**

Right!

I proceeded to equip the [Black Shield of the False Grail], which appeared in a flash of a light and began to dissipate, showing me the item.

…THIS IS NOT A SHIELD!

My gauntlets were replaced with sleek black ones that reached my elbows, they looked demonic as they were pulsing and some kind of red miasma were coming out of them. There was also a built-in knuckle-duster when I bunched my hand, pronouncing the spikes above my knuckles.

A window appeared before me again.

 **Black Shield of the False Grail – Defence: 4000**

 **The Shield of the False Grail. It is shaped into a pair of gauntlets so that they may not be lost. Forged from a special meteoric black iron and providing strong defence, its special effect is the ability to magically summon black magic shields in the air.**

Okay, so I can summon shields. I may be able to deflect the arrows after all.

I unequipped Yukimaru and placed Joyeuse in my right hand. I then thrust my left fist forward and concentrated for a moment-

And was surprised as a large black magic shield appeared in front of me.

Rho Aias?

 **[Yep, definitely Rho Aias.]**

More like the dark version of it, like how Excalibur Sanguine is different from the original Excalibur.

Still…

This was fucking awesome!

I then mentally vanished it away, making it disappear in a flash and began to plan my strategy. It didn't take me long and was pretty basic, but undead aren't known for their ability to think on their feet, so it was probably OK.

After I was finished, I jumped over the mound I was hiding behind and the skeleton archers spotted me and started loosing their arrows at me rapidly-

Before I summoned five small magic shields and deflected the incoming volley of arrows, moving them to intercept each arrow and angling them so they were deflected well away from me.

I then combined my shields into a single large shield and began to charge the archers, the shield deflecting and defending me against the arrows till when I facing them up-close and personal. I used [Flame Scar] to destroy three of them, burning them to a cinder before horizontally bisecting them.

And, before the Skeletal Archer could react, I plunged my sword into its skull, its body hanging loosely and thrashing for a moment before breaking apart.

All of them turned into miasma like the other ones, and left loot on the ground.

On the floor was a few piles of money and the dark bow the Skeletal Archer was using, I didn't have time to observe them as another pile of bones were forming so I had to pick them all up.

When they were all fully formed a large group of skeleton warriors appeared, wielding spears, swords, halberds and shields. The one in the center was probably their leader, wearing black armour while using some kind of blade that looked like a large Chinese kitchen knife. The weapon was rectangular and had a blood-red blade. A Dao, I think it was.

Overall, there were over twenty of the buggers.

 **Skeletal Knight – Level 40**

 **One of the three undead adventurers who ventured into the Catacombs, he is a part of the Skeletal Trio, who protected the Necromancer Fauron but is now under new employment. Highly resistant against magic.**

…I really hate this dungeon. Next time, I'm bringing Janne and Rin along.

I didn't have the time to hesitate because three of them started to run at me, holding their weapons up high.

I used [Mana Burst] to fill my body with mana, and when they were near, I rammed my body against them, destroying them in the process before I started to sprint through them charging towards the large groups of skeletons.

More of them started to charge towards me as well, but I batted away all of them using Joyeuse and ramming my shields against their bodies, sending them flying while keeping a straight eye at the Skeletal Knight.

When I was near enough, I used my legs that were bursting with mana to jump forward and try to plunge my sword through its armour.

"Haah!"

CLANG!

But it countered my attack, sending me flying backwards before I flipped and spun myself one eighty and landed on my feet in a crouching position, skidding several meters away from it.

After righting myself, I thrust my left hand forward, sending all of my shields to smash into him, like a certain avenger would, but the thing just batted them all away before charging towards me at full speed.

Resilient to magic, duh!

I had to put my sword up to protect myself as he rammed into my chest like a raging bull, pushing me more backwards before I had to plunge my sword into the ground, stopping my skidding motion.

I then swung my sword upwards to stop the skeleton's motion, the head flying back from the assault and I tried to vertically slash at its right side, but the skeleton recovered fast and parried my attack.

Our weapons were now locked together as we were glaring at each other, yellow ghostlight meeting red orbs. We began to push at each other with great force, trying to get the other one to fall, when something occurs to me.

Why the hell am I fighting this thing head on?

Moving quickly, I disengage and move to the left, using the moment of surprise to strike at the undead knight's back, cutting his torso in half diagonally. Even then, the stubborn damn thing will not die, trying to claw at me with its only remaining hand.

I destroyed it with a [Mana Burst]-enhanced stomp.

I glared around the room, but thankfully, the damn 'Horde' seems to have exhausted itself at last.

 **Congratulations! You have defeated 20 Skeleton Warriors, 9 Skeleton Mages, 2 Skeleton Archers, 1 Skeletal Sorcerer, 1 Skeletal Archer and 1 Skeletal Knight!**

 **You gain 2783 EXP!**

 **You have gained the title 'Bonecrusher' for defeating at least 25 Skeletons in the same dungeon!**

Oi…

I do my usual loot run, which is mostly Yen and Health Potions, with the exception of the Skeletal Knight, who was kind enough to leave me his sword, boots and a skill book.

Eager to get this damn ordeal over with, I decide to leave that until later though and just shove them into my inventory.

Looking around, I spot a door that seems to have mysteriously opened up while I was looting the bones of my enemies. Quite naturally, I am wary of any more traps that this damn dungeon seems to like sending my way, so I carefully move through the doorway, testing each flagstone thoroughly before moving onto it fully.

 **[Paranoid much?]**

You are only paranoid if there is no one out to get you, and I have Fallen Angels, Devils, Exorcists and whatever evil intelligence is controlling this thrice-accursed dungeon after me.

 **[…fair point.]**

I slowly make my way down the corridor and enter…an enormous cavern. There was no other way to describe it. It had stalactites and stalagmites all over the place, although I cannot remember which is which for the life of me.

 **[Stalactites are the ones on the ceiling.]** Ddraig told me helpfully.

Thanks.

Anyway, the cavern was really huge and I had no fucking clue where the hell to go. I walked over to the nearby cliff top and looked down before looking away again quickly. Yikes. I don't really get vertigo, but that is one long drop.

"Well, this is just peachy." I mutter aloud, "Where to now?"

Suddenly, the ground shook and I almost fell off the cliff. Shit!

Looking around, I can't see anything. I back away from the cliff nervously, not wanting to take up spelunking or indoor skydiving.

Another tremble from the ground, stronger this time, followed by a roar that echoed into a cacophony around the cavern, making my ears hurt.

"What the fuck?" I muttered before spotting something that is rather disturbing.

A massive clawed talon appears at the edge of the cliff and slams onto the ground. It is the size of a goddamn Mini Cooper! Then the rest of the beast followed the talon.

 **Ancient Bone Dragon - Level ?-?-?**

 **A skeletal dragon raised from the dead by a Cabal of Master Necromancers. The skeleton of a dragon bound with numerous enchantments that permit it to absorb other undead into its body, giving it the appearance of a white dragon, only the greatest of heroes should ever challenge such a beast and hope to survive.**

…I'm fucked.

The thing towered over me, its dead eyes boring into mine. Its ragged wings flared on its back and I could smell the decay in its breath as it loomed at me. This was not good.

Bob, remind me what it means to be unable to see the level of a monster again?

 **It means that the monster in question is at least fifty levels above you. Given that almost all monsters with 'Ancient' in their names are a couple of thousand years old, I'd put this guy at level 130 at least.**

Great. Just great.

I was readying myself to defend myself when a whispering voice came from the bone dragon.

 **"….you are not…yet worthy…of fighting me…young Sekiryūtei…"**

"You can talk?!" I exclaim in shock.

 **"…existing for millennia…and consuming countless…lesser undead…has granted me…a mind…a sentience…of sorts…"** the undead dragon replied haltingly, **"…you are not worthy…to face me…not yet…at least…"**

"I don't want to fight you." I admit honestly, "I can sense the difference in our abilities and you'd squash me like a bug if I tried."

 **"…a warrior…requires the courage…to admit such a thing…to themselves."** the construct replied, sounding slightly impressed, **"…you…came from the Catacombs…did you not? This…is a trap…set by the lowly Necromancer…who created…the Catacombs…he intended for me…to act like his watchdog…but now I have a mind…I will only fight…the worthy."**

 **[Undead Dragon, who were the ones to debase you like this?]** Ddraig asked angrily.

 **"Dead…long since dead…they slew each…other in their greed…and lust for…power."** the bone dragon replied, **"Thank you…for your concern…Welsh Dragon…your current host…has much…potential. He…might be able…to defeat me…someday…and release me from…this curse. Follow…the left path…and it shall take you to…the last chamber."**

"Th-thank you!" I was surprised yet again. If it didn't find me worthy, it could have just flown off, so giving me directions was unexpected.

 **"I…do not help you out of charity…Sekiryūtei…"** the giant construct whispered, **"I…wish to die…truly die…yet I cannot. Grow in strength…and come to challenge me…once again….using this."**

With a slight gesture, the giant dragon ripped one of its fangs from its mouth and tossed it at my feet.

 **Fang of the Bone Drake - Item**

 **When used, teleports the user to face the Ancient Bone Dragon. Minimum Recommended Level: 150**

 **"Beware…young Sekiryūtei…"** the bone dragon whispered, **"The beast you will face…in the last chamber…is not…to be taken…lightly. Tread softly…it possesses the power…of infinite duplication…may your sword…remain sharp…Sekiryūtei…"**

With those words, the Ancient Bone Dragon turned around and climbed back down into the abyss from where it had come from. I picked up the large fang, which was as long as a bread knife, and put it in my inventory.

Guys? What did you make of that last bit? About what is presumably the last boss of this damned place?

 **[If it were a regular Necromancer, he would have remained silent]** Ddraig opined, **[So he must be able to do something other than raise the dead.]**

Yes, but…what? Infinite duplication? Sounds like the Shadow Clone Jutsu to me.

 **I doubt it'll be able to create as many as in Naruto.**

Whatever. I'll burn that bridge when I come to it. Exit, stage left.

I head down the path that the dragon indicated, which quickly returned to the stonework of the Catacombs. I am really lucky that the Bone Dragon still maintained the pride of a dragon and sought a strong opponent, otherwise I'd be a smear on the ground right now.

 **[Yeah, but that…mockery of a dragon is still nothing compared to one of the Nitenryū at our best. A curse upon the God of the Bible for locking me in this Gear!]** Ddraig muttered mutinously, **[It is well that those Necromancers who despoiled a Dragon's Graveyard to steal the corpse are all dead now, otherwise I'd be encouraging you to gut the lot of them!]**

Uwaaahh! Ddraig, you sounded really murderous there!

I reached the end of the path, where there was a doorway to the right. Opening it, I saw that I was at the top of a spiral staircase leading down. There were wall-mounted torches doted at intervals as you descended.

"Jeez, this is going to take forever to walk down." I complained aloud as I started down the steps.

CLICK!

Uh-oh.

Suddenly, the stairs beneath me turned into a slide!

"Fuuuuuccckkk!" I scream as I start zooming down the damn thing. Whoever designed this thing is going to get an ass kicking once I get my hands on them!

 **Just enjoy the ride, dude.**

Oh, sure! Every single trap here has been deadly! If I wasn't a damn zombie, I'd be dead by now! There's probably a pit of spikes or a vat of acid or something at the bottom!

Looking down as I slide down the staircase-turned-slide, I start to get dizzy. Urgh, this is why I never go on merry-go-rounds!

After about five minutes of vomit-inducing sliding, I finally crash onto a wall at the bottom of the stairway.

"Dammit!"

After resting for a moment, I staggered to my feet and chugged another HP Potion. Damn, that smarts! Muttering curses under my breath, I headed for the only door and stop and gaze into the room.

It was a forge, filled to the brim with blacksmithing tools, weapons, armour, shields and the like. At the far end was an anvil, water basin and the forge proper, and standing over the anvil, beating a cherry-red piece of metal, was a large skeleton wielding a large hammer. He had unusual bone tendrils coming from his skull, like a beard, and his bones were blackened and pitted from hours of work at the forge.

 **Vamos - Level 60**

 **[Surly Skeletal Master Blacksmith]**

 **A skeleton cursed by a Necromancer with his dying breath, Vamos is still the Master Blacksmith that he was in life. Surly, gruff and taciturn, he nevertheless aids those who show him respect.**

Great, something else that's way stronger than I am.

"Hmmm?" the skeleton looked up from his work, "Great. Another idiot adventurer who hopes to beat ol' Vamos, is it?"

"Err…no, actually." I reply, "I'd much rather hire you to fix my armour. The labyrinth…hasn't been kind to it."

The skeletal blacksmith harrumphed. "So I can see. Young 'uns these days, no respect for their poor armour. Well, let's be having it boy."

Removing my torso armour and spaulders, which was almost as pitted and scratched as Vamos' bones, I handed it over to him. The undead examined the armour with a critical eye, tutting and tsking under his breath.

"This armour is being held together with will and rust!" he declared dramatically, "Not that it was all that good beforehand. Cheap stuff, mass produced crap."

Hey! That was not cheap!

"I could fix it up to be as good as new, but if you pay extra, I can improve it!" Vamos said, "A bit of Demonic Iron and Fae Silver will work wonders for it."

"How much?" I asked.

"10560 Money." he said flatly.

"That's half my fortune!" I shake my head, "8000 money and one weapon I've collected in this labyrinth."

"Let's see 'em then." Vamos said, "I'm not agreeing ta anything until I see that they're good quality."

Grumbling to myself, I bring out the black bow and the Dao.

"Hmmm…I remember these, 'cause I made 'em." Vamos mused, "I'll take the bow, and 9000 money."

"8500." I countered.

"Done." The skeleton shook my hand to seal the deal, "Now stand aside; watch a master at work."

 **Congratulations! As a result of a specific action, you have created a new skill!**

 **Haggle - Level 1 - 0.0%**

 **A skill as old as humanity itself, haggling allows you to try to bargain down a merchant to a lesser price for their goods. The higher the level of this skill and the better you know the merchant, the more effective this skill will become.**

 **5% chance of lowering the cost of one item by 10%.**

OK, that will be useful.

Watching Vamos work was very educational, levelling up my own [Blacksmithing] skill by ten. As you would expect from a Master. It was amazing, really, at how he wielded that massive hammer with all the grace and delicacy of a swordsman wielding a rapier.

He laid the armour out to cool once he was finished with it and I was impressed by how it looked. The crimson-red armour now had lines of black and silver in geometric patterns on both the cuirass and spaulders.

"Get out the gauntlets that go with 'em, boy." Vamos said gruffly, "That was the deal."

Nodding, I take the gauntlets from my inventory and hand them to him. Compared to the other two parts of the armour, they aren't too badly damaged, but being careful with your equipment was never a bad idea.

After he had finished with the gauntlets (and raised my [Blacksmithing] skill by another level), Vamos inclined his head at me.

"There you go. One set of armour, fully repaired."

"Thanks. You did a really good job on them." I reply as I handed over the money.

"[Observe]!" I shouted out!

 **Vamos' Armour of the Labyrinth - Defence: 1900**

 **Labyrinth Armour that has been repaired and enhanced by Master Blacksmith Vamos. The Demonic Iron and Fae Silver worked into it increases its resilience to magic and the user's resilience against illusions. Add into that the skilled reinforcement of the armour itself by Vamos and you have a very good suit of armour.**

 **\- +30% Resistance to Magic.**

 **\- 20% chance of seeing through illusions while worn.**

OK, just…wow here.

"Kid. Catch." Vamos called. I caught a bone talisman of sorts.

"You've dealt fairly with me, so I'm giving you that. It'll transport you here to my forge and out again." the skeleton told me, "If ya need weapons and armour, come to ol' Vamos and he'll see ya good."

"Thanks." I say. This was useful. "Err…do you know the way to the Boss' room?"

"Oh. Him. Yeah, he's just through that door and down the hall." Vamos said with a flap of his bony hand in the direction of the other door, "Good luck fighting him though. He's a right tricky bugger."

"How so?" I ask as I pull my armour on.

"Bastard can clone himself using magic." Vamos replied, "Only one at a time, but the closes can do anything he can do…including the cloning spell. Kill 'em quick or you'll have an army on your ass."

"Thanks for the tip." I say as I head towards the door.

"Pay me back by killing that bastard." Vamos shouted back as I left the room.

As I walked down the hall, I kept an eye out for any traps, as I was getting tired of getting impaled, squashed, burned and bisected.

At the end of the corridor was a large pair of double doors that looked like they hadn't been opened in decades, at least. I summoned Joyeuse to my right hand and Ōgonkai to my left before casting [Iron Skin].

As ready as I can be, I walk towards the doors, which shudder for a moment before creaking open inwards.

 **Come in, said the spider to the fly…**

Not now, Bob!

Entering the room cautiously, I freeze when the door creaks shut after I pass it. The candles mounted on the walls of the room all lit at once, which would have blinded me if it were not for my dragon eye.

At the end of the room, which resembles a wrecked library, are three podiums with a mask atop them. One is silvery, one is bronze and one is made of what looks like iron. In front of the podiums are six lanterns, an odd necklace and a black cloak.

OK, what the heck?

As I take another step forwards, the masks rattle, float off their podiums, and start to spin around each other in a triangle formation. Then they started to speak in a hollow, dead voice.

"Life and death…"

"…creation and destruction…"

"…all in the palm of our hands."

Emerging from the backs of the mask was, much to my disgust, liquid flesh of some kind. It smelled rancid and foul, even from here, and it gradually constructed a body that seethed and writhed.

The cloak, necklace and lanterns floated up next. The cloak wrapped around the disgusting excuse for a body and six spidery arms shot out of holes in the back and grabbed a lantern each. Finally, the necklace wrapped around the hole where all three masks were clustered, and snapped closed, which seemed to ignite the lanterns.

[Observe!]

 **Pinwheel, Mad Lord of the Catacombs - Level 50**

 **[Master Necromancer]**

 **A foul and evil being who slew Fauron, the former lord of the Catacombs and usurped his domain, Pinwheel was one three separate people who were sacrificed and had their minds transferred into the three masks that Pinwheel wears, becoming a gestalt consciousness. Highly resistant to magic, weak against physical attacks.**

OK, that's useful. Old-fashioned ass kicking it is.

"A dragon…" the silver mask hissed.

"…such an interesting specimen this time…" commented the iron mask.

"…we'll have to take our time with him." concluded the bronze mask.

"OK, enough talking." I scowled at the bastard. Several levels higher than me, weak against physical attacks and has some kinda cloning technique…right.

This was going to be a pain in the ass.

"[Flying Dragon Wave]!" I sent two of these at Pinwheel before using [Mana Burst] to leap straight at him…it?…whatever…at the necromancer before he had time to react.

The first red crescent struck the necromancer on the silvery mask and…did exactly nothing. Ditto for the second one. That was some serious magic resistance right there. Not so much as a scratch.

The lanterns flared orange and they came together in the centre of the Necromancer's body before firing a fireball at me, which I jumped over and brought both my swords down in a double overhead chop, scoring a pair of lines down the front of the monster.

Pinwheel screeched and sent tendrils of flame out to attack me. I batted them away with my swords and got back into attack range. The Necromancer was an agile one, I had to give him that. He leapt all over the place and contorted in ways that were not physically possible for any vertebrate being, but were possible for something with no bone structure like the masked necromancer.

Then, the flames of the lanterns turned purple and it created a clone out of nowhere!

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. They looked like twins…urgh, what a thought…and I couldn't tell which the original was and which was the clone. Although, I didn't really have to. I sent a [Flying Dragon Wave] at each of them and while one was unaffected, the other vanished like a shadow as soon as the attack struck.

"Tiresome…" the bronze mask growled.

"…and stubborn…" added the silvery mask.

"…but in the end, utterly futile." finished the iron mask sinisterly.

"Uhhhh….is there another fight you…three…are watching right now? Because I've scored two hits, compared to your none." I said with a raised eyebrow.

All Pinwheel said in response was a hollow laugh.

The fight resumed and he busted out more than a few tricks. He turned up the heat on me with an upmarket-version of a fireball that might have been slow, but it would have melted me like lava, as well as hitting me with those lanterns while they were on fire.

I had to wonder about the theme of his attacks here. Necros generally used death magic and minions to fight, while this guy used fire, which was usually seen as being a force against the undead. It was probably why he had defeated the previous lord of the Catacombs.

"I tire of this." the iron mask remarked.

"Agreed." the bronze mask said.

"Let us bring this absurdity to an end then." the silver mask snarled.

Once again, he created a clone, but this time they both vanished, reappearing on opposite ends of the room. Mirroring each other's movements, their lanterns formed a circle before them and they created a fireball each.

"Vanish!" all six masks hissed before the fireballs erupted into goddamn flamethrowers!

Thinking quickly, I sent my swords back to my inventory, thrust my arms out towards the columns of fiery doom approaching me and used the [Black Shield of the False Grail] to create one shield in each direction large enough to protect all of me.

The flames crashed over the black shields like tidal waves. Even through the shields, I could feel the heat drying the air and make sweat bead my brow. Yikes, that is hot!

 **Shame we forgot the marshmallows.**

BOB! I'm almost being turned into a briquette here and you want to toast marshmallows?!

 **Shutting up now.**

Good. Jeez…

The flames cut out, I quickly dropped the shields, and glared at the figure I thought was the original Pinwheel. Even although the masks were empty and hollow, I thought I detected some level of surprise coming from him.

"Unexpected." the silver one remarked.

"But hardly worth worrying about." the iron mask said.

"We can grow endlessly and there is only one of you." the bronze mask sneered as both of the Pinwheels duplicated themselves yet again.

Jeez! This guy is using that like Tien Shinhan and his Twelve Eyes Technique! Without the weakness!

OK, think! I have to attack all of the copies at the same time, then move in to attack the original. But how?

The four Pinwheels start to charge their flamethrowers again and this time I don't know if the shields will hold against the storm of fire.

Hold it…storm?

…Idea.

I bring out Joyeuse again and charge it as if I was about to use [Flying Dragon Wave] again.

"Fool!"

"That technique cannot strike all of us!"

"Die because of your stupidity, foolish dragon!"

"Shut up!" I snarled back. I draw Joyeuse up over my shoulder before swirling the power in a circle as I simultaneously slash the sword in a circle around me.

The result surprised me.

A massive wave of crimson energy erupted around me in a vortex and spread throughout the entire chamber, engulfing all of the Pinwheels and destroying three of them. Even the original was damaged by that attack. Guess even his high resistance to magic has its limits.

 **Congratulations! You have created a new skill!**

 **Flying Dragon Storm - Level 1, 0.0%**

 **An Area of Effect skill that requires a sword to be used. Almost Omni-directional, this technique assaults the enemy with raw power, shredding them with magic and concussive force until they are destroyed. Damage is determined by the combined levels of [Flying Dragon Wave], [Mana Burst], [Mana Affinity] and [Sword Mastery].**

…bow down, for awesomeness has arrived and his name is Issei!

I charged at the stunned necromancer and started hacking at him with Joyeuse, making him shriek again.

"What kind…"

"…of monster…"

"…are you?!"

"Rich coming from you!" I snarled back, "Now just die already!"

With that, I plunged the Holy Sword Joyeuse in the gap between the three masks and shoved a lot of my MP into an explosion of mana that was emitted through the sword blade, straight into the centre of Pinwheel.

The masked necromancer screeched and screamed as raw magic tore his body to pieces from the inside out. His six limbs thrashed and writhed before dropping the six lanterns to the ground.

"Unthinkable…"

"…that we…I…was defeated…"

"…by a filthy and crude dragon!" Pinwheel screamed, his three voices overlapping with each other.

I sneered at him before noticing that his cape was swelling up like a balloon. I ripped my sword from his body and leapt back, putting up my most powerful black shield between him and me.

Good thing I did, because he literally blew up like a nuke going off, mushroom cloud and everything, only it was this odd cancerous green colour and smelled like a rotten corpse dipped in absinthe and left to ferment for a decade or two.

It was also strong enough to make a crack in the shield, which shocked me slightly. If the shields created by the [Black Shield of the False Grail] were anything like Rho Aias, the conceptual weapon created from Hector of Troy's seven-layered leather shield, the largest shield should have the defensive properties of a fortress, yet Pinwheel's death knell had fractured it right down the middle.

As the smoke from the Lord of the Catacombs' destruction cleared, I saw, where the Necromancer Pinwheel had been standing, a pile of stuff. Loot and cash. Yay.

 **Congratulations! You have slain Pinwheel, Mad Lord of the Catacombs!**

 **You receive 4950 EXP!**

 **You have levelled up! 33-47!**

 **You have an additional 35 Attribute points to spend.**

 **[Sword Mastery] has levelled up! 19 - 21!**

 **[Flying Dragon Wave] has levelled up! 17-19!**

 **[Duel Wield] has levelled up! 10-15!**

OK, nice.

Another window popped up once I closed that one.

 **[Duel Wield] has reached its highest level and can now evolve to its next stage.**

 **Do you wish to do so?**

 **Yes/No**

Hell, why not? I hit yes.

 **Congratulations! [Duel Wield] has evolved into [Duel Wielding Mastery]! It retains the previous level and can now level up further!**

OK. That's convenient.

"I'm tired of being in this damned maze." I muttered as I swept the loot into my inventory, resolving to go through it later on, although I did note that the amount of cash I received was triple what I paid Vamos.

Looking around, I could see no exit, so I replace Joyeuse in my inventory and take out the lantern that I got from the Gathering of the Hyakki Yagyō dungeon and start looking around. It didn't take me long to discover two secret doors. One was just an alcove with a skill book.

 **You have acquired the skill book for 'Raise the Dead: Skeleton Warriors'**

 **Do you wish to learn this skill?**

 **Yes/No**

Fuck no. Necromancy's sick and wrong.

Stowing it in my inventory, I head to the other secret door and start up the stairs. As soon as I get halfway up them, I black out.

Waking up in the room where I first blacked out, I was rather relieved to see that I had lost the 'Undead' title. Picking myself off the floor and dusting myself off, I had to wonder if the entire catacombs thing had just been a really bad trip brought on by drinking that funky liquid. I check my inventory and all of the stuff was there, so I guess it wasn't just a dream.

Heading out the door, I dither about what to do next. Should I head home and catch up with my parents (who were ecstatic about me being married) or should I visit my men at the base and see how well they have done with their 'persuasion' of the Stray Exorcists?

Decisions, decisions…


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N Notes: …I think I may need to go up to M rating for what I'm about to do in this chapter guys, but whatever. So welcome back guys, for a new chapter of Just Another Gamer.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **"Booooo."**

 **Who the fuck said that?! I swear to god you come here right now and say it straight to my damn face!**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Just as I thought, damn prick. In any case, since you guys voted for his base, Issei is going to his base…but not without a little surprise.**

 **P.S.: This chapter maybe shorter but I'll make it up to you guy's with the next one.**

 **Disclaimer: Usual as always here fellas. Author doesn't own anything. Beta'ed by SeerKing.**

* * *

I think my group has gotten something out from the exorcists, so I'll go to my base, I might as well get some info from Raynare.

"[Equip Outfit Set 2]." In a quick burst of white flash, my armour disappeared and I now stood in a simple white plain shirt and dark blue jeans, with my black combat boots on my feet. I then began a light jog away from the factory and into the city.

As I jogged, I was just marvelling at the sights of the tall buildings, the big ad signs and the stores that were on the side of the street. The people around me were walking around, getting to their destinations without a care in the world. Teenagers were chatting about something like games, school or something, businessmen were talking on their cell phones about work and the obvious bystanders were just sitting around, looking at the sights Kuoh city had to offer.

 **That's a lie, you're just looking at all the cute girls walking around on the streets.**

"What makes you say that?" I said as my gaze started drifting to a brown haired girl who walked by me before I shook my head and focused on the path before me.

I was jogging for a long time before I was finally back in my neighbourhood, before tiring myself out I stopped jogging and walked on the street before I was near a park and remembered something.

"Huh. This must be the park where I met the Valkyrie…won't hurt to take a look." I then stopped my path and walked through the park, going through the dense and comfy forest and the path ended. Leading me to a wide open space with the park's fountain in the centre.

I looked around and saw all the inhabitants in the park. They were all just minding their business so I watched them doing their own things from afar.

Hmm, let's see. There's a child playing with his grandpa, a guy talking on his phone while staring at the pond, a young mother walking alongside her child, and-

"Hawa!"

A girl suddenly tripped on her feet near my left side, showing me her white panties as she lay on the floor with her white veil on the pavement, and there were also a bunch of baby ducks quacking on the pond and they were…fist bumping? Awesome!

…Bob, what did I just say?

 **A bunch of baby ducks quacking on the pond while they were fist bumping?**

No, before that.

 **A girl suddenly tripped on her feet near your left side?**

Yeah, that's what I said!

"Ouu… Why did I trip?" she said in a daze.

…Better help her up her feet. I mean sure I was seeing an amazing view but c'mon a little common courtesy doesn't kill anyone.

That, and Janne might have sensed me looking with that famous "Intuition" women seem to have.

*Shivers* Scary.

I then went near her and offered a hand. "You okay miss?" I asked nicely.

"Ah… Thank you very much." She then took my hand and I helped her up, making me see her full appearance without the white veil.

The girl was about sixteen years of age with long blonde hair and green eyes. Her hair flowed all the way down to her back, with split bangs over her forehead and a single strand sticking out from the top, sloping backwards. She was wearing a dark teal nun outfit with light blue accents, a brown satchel slung on her right hip, where I could see a bible, and brown boots with black straps in an X-shaped pattern. She was also wearing a silver cross necklace around her neck.

Well this one was pretty cute, I can say that!

I then grabbed her veil from the pavement and gave it to her.

"Here."

"Thank you very much!" She smiled as she gratefully thanked me, making me blush.

Damn this girl was cute!

"Umm… are you alright?"

"Ah!" I woke up from my daze and looked around to find a topic for a discussion. I then saw a suitcase open with its contents haphazardly lying on the concrete pavement. "Y-your suitcase… I'll help you."

"Ah it's fine, I can get it myself."

"Hahh?" I then saw a peculiar item and took interest of it, picking it up to look more closely.

'I-is this what I think it is?!' I thought as I looked upon the item on my hands. They were a pair of white panties innocently staring at me.

"Ah… wha!?" The girl took it from my hands as soon as she noticed what I was doing. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She apologized while kneeling on the ground, her back was facing me, pulling up her dress up to the point that her panties were showing. She then took several breaths to calm herself as she stood and turned to face me. "Ah… You saw a bad side of me."

On the contrary, if this was her bad side I wouldn't mind seeing other girl's bad side.

 **[…don't even think about that. I'm pretty sure there is something worse than this.]**

…If the voices in my head were beside me right now, they would be shuddering along with me as we thought of a girl's bad side…The yandere side.

…I'm never playing Yandere Simulator again, I fucking swear that game was not right in the head!

 **Don't you mean Data?**

Whatever!

"Are you travelling…?" I asked after I stopped shuddering from the thought.

"Umm… no, I've been appointed to the church in this city… but I got lost on the way… I'm not used to the language so I'm quite reluctant to ask for directions."

Just as she said, her Japanese was not perfect, halting even, with the occasional English in between the Japanese words. The only reason I understood perfectly was because I learned how to speak English in school at a fast rate with [Intelligence].

"If you're looking for the church, I know where it is. Would you like me to take you?"

"For real!? The Lord really points the way!"

…Wow, she really is a nun.

"Well then, let's go!"

However, before we could proceed, we heard someone crying. As we turned around, we saw a boy, who tripped on the pavement, with a scratch on his knee, crying. The blonde sister then ran to him, concerned.

"Are you okay? A boy shouldn't be crying over little things like this." She then placed her hands over the boy's wound, where a green light formed, healing it.

 **[A Sacred Gear?]** Ddraig questioned.

"Right! Your wounds are healed, so you should be fine now."

A woman then came, most likely his sister. "Yoshi-kun, where did you go!?"

"Ah, that onee-chan over there! She healed my injury!"

"It looked like he fell, so I helped him."

She didn't looked amused. "You shouldn't be talking to strange people, let's go."

"Oy! She—"

However before he could take action, the blonde sister stopped him, taking hold of his right hand. "It's fine."

"Do you understand what she said?"

"I don't…. But I know…," she said with a very sad look on her eyes.

Huh?

"Thank you, onee-chan!"

Well, at least the boy had some manners.

"He said thank you."

As the boy waved his hands, she also did the same, the sad look on her eyes now gone.

"Sorry, I get meddlesome sometimes." The nun said with an apologetic bow.

"Still, that girl had a bad personality, even though you healed her brother." I said with a frown at where the girl had disappeared. Really, being so rude to someone who helped her brother!

"Being disliked by others is normal; I'm used to it…." Her face then took on a depressed expression again.

What the hell happened to her?

"By the way, what was that green light?" I ask.

"Oh, it's my power of healing. It's an amazing power granted to me by God." She replied with a bittersweet smile.

God… huh…

Shit! She doesn't know about God being dead! I can't tell her about that!

 **[If you do tell her, all three factions will kill you]** Ddraig told me.

OK, definitely not telling her then!

"Well, let's go then. This way." I said pointing in the direction that the church was located.

"Yes, please take care of me!"

But before we could even take three steps, the sister tripped again, "Kya!" letting go of her suitcase.

Again? She must be the dojikko type.

After helping her up and some minutes of walking, we finally reached the church. It was in the outskirts, with trees surrounding it. When I thought about it, the place was a perfect hiding place.

..I don't know why but…could this be…

No, I'm thinking too much. Probably…

"Ah, this is it! I'm so glad." She said with a smile on her face.

"Well, then I'll take my leave."

"Eh!? Please wait! You've taken me all the way here; you should let me repay you in kind! At least stay for tea…"

"Sorry, I still have an appointment." I still had to go to my base after all.

"But…." The girl pouted and looked disappointed.

"Don't worry about it. By the way, my name's Issei Hyoudou, but you can call me Issei. And you are?" I asked.

"I'm Asia Argento! You can call me Asia." She replied with a pretty smile.

"Well then, Sister Asia, see you later." I said as I started to head off.

"Yes! I hope to see you again soon, Issei-san." She called after me.

After waving goodbye, I then walked back to the park before my cell phone started to ring and I had to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Honey?" Janne's voice came out. "Where you with another girl?"

I stopped dead in my tracks when she asked that, my face becoming pale as she asked that.

How the fuck does she know that?!

 **Women's Intuition, Dumbass! You said so yourself!**

"Uh, Uh…" I was stuttering in reply for a moment, before I gave in with a sigh. "*sigh* yes, I had to bring her to the church because she was a nun."

"…Alright." She sighed. "I trust that you didn't do anything?"

I stood there for a while, scared for what I was about to answer.

I must not say what I have seen!

"…No?" I said nervously.

"Why does that sound more like a question instead of an answer?" she asked me curiously, making me sweat even more.

"I, uh…Oh shit two cars are about to crash!" I then began to make 'vroom' sounds as I started to motion and shake my hands in place, before I opened my arms out wide as I made a 'boom' sound. "Oh shit, they just crashed! Gotta go, love you, bye!"

"W-Wha-…" Before she could finish, I pressed on the hang up button, making the cell phone hang up before closing my eyes and sighed in relief. "Ah shit."

I then opened my eyes and noticed a guy in a yukata with blond and black dyed hair, probably at his mid-thirties looking at me. Raising his left eyebrow in question. "Girl problems?"

"…Yes." I slumped my shoulders down pitifully in exhaustion.

He just patted my back sympathetically and got on to his way. Waving his hand behind him to say goodbye.

…Nice guy. Now, back to base!

* * *

I was now standing in front of the gates of my building, it was the same power plant I rescued Janne from and the place I was now using as my HQ of operations.

"…something doesn't feel right." I hardened my look at the gates, suspicious about this weird feeling I was having.

 **What do you mean?**

There is something in the air that smells…it smells like…blood?!

Why the fuck am I smelling blood?!

I pushed open the gates in a hurry, making sure to open it all the way-

.

.

.

And saw the sight before me.

"…W-what the fuck is this?!" I stared in horror.

All over the courtyard were dead bodies everywhere, some were on the ground while some where stuck on the walls with stakes in their necks. But they weren't any dead people…this were the dead bodies of my men.

I slowly walked inside, looking around the corpses around me on the ground when I spotted something on the floor. I picked it up and in my hands was a note, I started reading it.

 **"Hope you liked the little surprise, because we have a lot more where that's coming from Mr. "Dokuganryū".**

 **-The Jade Rats-**

I crumpled the paper in my hands in anger and frustration, what the fuck was this?! Who the fuck were the Jade Rats?!

"B-Boss…!" a voice called.

I looked around and spotted a man who had dragged himself against a wall, leaving a bloody trail from where he had landed after being attacked. I ran over and gave him a once-over. He was missing an arm, had multiple stab and gunshot wounds on his torso and his right leg was broken in at least two places.

"Who the fuck did this?" I demanded.

"Those…Jade Rat bastards…" he gasped, "Sorry boss…while we were attacked…the Fallen Angel and the exorcist leader…broke out…and ran…"

"Aw fuck." I groaned. Great. Just great. This meant I had to be on guard for an attack from the BDSM-clad Fallen and her whackjob of a priest while I counterattack these Jade Rat bastards.

What next?

"Boss…here…take these." the man gasped as he drew a pistol from inside his jacket with his only remaining arm, which I recognised as a Bernetti 9 pistol. It was swiftly followed by three spare magazines.

"Take…my rifle too." the man said, gesturing at the assault rifle next to him, "Show…those damn…Rats…what it means to cross you…boss…"

With that, his eyes closed for the last time. I bowed my head for a moment before picking up his weapons. I put the pistol through my belt, shoved the spare magazines into my inventory and picked up the rifle by the handy sling it had.

 **You have acquired [Bernetti 9]!**

 **You have acquired [Bernetti 9 Magazine (14 round clip)] X4!**

 **You have acquired [AMCAR Assault Rifle]!**

 **You have acquired [AMCAR Assault Rifle Magazine (20 Round clip)]!**

WHEE-OOO! WHEE-OOO! WHEE-OOO! WHEE-OOO!

I then heard some kind of sirens and looked behind and saw what was out of the gate.

There were a couple of police cars outside of the base, more were coming as well, driving to…where I was…

Oh Shit!

"Freeze!" One man got out of his vehicle, He was wearing a blue police uniform, and was pointing a Berretta 92 pistol at me, outside of the gate. "You're under arrest, put your hands in the air!"

 **Policeman – Level 15**

Fucking hell I am!

I slung the AMCAR behind my back drew the pistol and started running inside the compound. A bunch of shot's were flying behind me, missing their intended target before I reached the doors in time to get in and closed it behind me.

I spotted a bunch of heavy crates on one corner of the door, I picked them up one by one and barricaded the door. Backing up slowly as they kept banging on the door.

W-What the hell should I do?!

 **[What do you think?! Kill them!]** Ddraig shouted.

W-what?!

 **[Look it's the only way to escape, they're trying to kill you partner!]**

"I…I can't!" I said nervously, before I started running to the stairs and climbed to the second floor in a hurry.

 **[What?!]**

"I can't kill them, alright!" I shouted as I ran through the dark hallways of the base and went inside one of the rooms and closed the door behind me, my body slumping down in exhaustion, putting the gun in my hand down on the floor. When I looked around, the room was full of crates and there was a window on the left side.

 **[The fuck are you saying?!]**

The guy's I fought were all from the supernatural, the bad kind. The police are definitely NOT the bad kind!

 **[And you think them killing you is good?!]**

Look, you may not understand what I'm saying but I just can't. These are my morals were talking about here!

 **[What are you talking about, partner?]**

Before I even gained this Gamer ability I was just an ordinary teenage pervert going to a former all-girl school, hoping to get a harem. I was raised normally as any other person and you expect me to go against what my parents taught me?!

 **[What about the people and monsters you killed?!]**

One side was from the supernatural and the other side were damn assholes!

 **[And the Nue guy?!]**

He tried to kill Janne, of course I would kill him! Plus he was a fucking Raijin Yōkai!

 **So…what you're saying is…you can't kill unless needed to?**

Bob piped in on the conversation, actually sounding serious this time which surprised me.

"Yes." I said as my gaze was watching between the window and the crates of boxes in the room in case of an ambush or surprise attack.

… **Can I…ask you something?**

…W-What?

 **ARE YOU FUCKING WITH US HERE, YOU DUMBASS!**

B-Bob?!

 **So you can't fucking kill unless needed to! That is the most stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life! And don't fucking tell me you believe that "I don't kill people because that would mean I'm an evil person" bullshit, do you?!**

What the fuck are you saying?!

 **What I'm saying is fuck your morality! What do you think life is, some type of game or anime? Sorry, but this is the real world, it doesn't work that way! People are dead because of their so-called "morals" stopping them from dealing the killing blow. Those cool anime character's you like, the "nakama" thing, and all of the things you learned from watching them all? Useless! They're all useless when the barrel of a gun is pointed behind your head!**

"What do you want me to do here then? Kill them?!" My right eye narrowed as I gritted my teeth when I could hear them banging on the main door of the base all the way from the room I was in.

 **What I want you to do is stop hiding behind the door like a coward and get that fucking thing you call "common sense" and rip it to shreds! The police won't care about you being innocent because they think you're a criminal, and besides, These "Jade Rats" murdered your whole gang into pieces!...are you just going to let them get away with that?!**

My breathing hitched as my right eye widened…I closed it and put my head down. I felt like an idiot at what I was thinking and trying to do.

…I-is…there really no choice?

 **Hey, People die every day in every fucking possible way. If you want to get yourself killed or arrested by these fuckers, then go ahead.**

"…heh." I chuckled silently, before I opened my right eye again. "Thanks for the reality check, Bob…I think I know what to do now."

 **Don't think, KNOW what to do.**

Right.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I heard banging noises coming from outside so I picked up the pistol on the floor, got up and went to one of the windows to check out what the hell they were doing.

"…That's one big battering ram." I said, gawking at the sight of what they were doing.

There were a lot of police men in the courtyard, I would probably say about 30 or so, and about 4 of them were in front of the main doors. Holding a big battering ram trying to force open the doors by ramming it, little cracks were appearing on the door while the others were on sidelines, holding their guns. One of them was talking on his radio, probably talking to a superior.

"On the count of three!" the one at the back of the battering ram shouted, holding the thing with the rest of the people backing up slowly.

"One…" They were swinging the battering ram back and forth at a fast pace.

"Two…" They were swinging the thing faster and faster.

"…Three!" They then ran against the door and rammed it, breaking into a million pieces. "Now, Go! Go! Go!" The officers that were on the sidelines started running inside.

Shit, at this rate…

I got out of the room, and started running through the hallways. I could hear some of them coming up the stairs so when I went past a corner, I took cover and waited for sounds.

"He's up here!" I heard a voice said from around the corner. The sound of footsteps were rushing up and I held the weapon in my hand down, ready and steady.

When I could hear they were upstairs, I got out of my cover and saw three of them already there at the start of the stairs. Before they could shoot me, I shot at them several times.

… **You missed them all.**

…Hey, I haven't gotten any gun skills yet, so gimme a break here.

My shots missed all of them, making a wall full of bullet holes behind them. When they prepared to fire, I ducked behind the wall again and just in time, as the floor and wall was peppered with a flurry of bullets.

This sucks. This really, really sucks. I'm fighting the goddamn police here!

When the storm of gunfire stopped, I leaned out and squeezed off two shots at the police, finally scoring a hit on one of them. A policeman fell down with a scream, clutching his leg where blood was spilling out of the holes my bullets had made.

 **Congratulations! As a result of repeated actions, you have created the [Pistol Mastery] skill!**

 **[Pistol Mastery] LV1, 0.0%**

 **This skill allows you to freely carry and use any pistol-type firearm. The higher the level this skill is, the more accurate your aim becomes and the more damage is inflicted. Accuracy is determined by DEX + INT divided by 5.**

 **Actively increases DEX by 1% while wielding pistols.**

 **Actively increases Damage with pistols by 5%.**

Well, it's about bloody time!

 **Sorry. You had to actually hit a target before I could do anything.**

Whatever. Now then, where was I…?

I fired at the cops again. Thanks to actually having some degree of skill with pistols now, I scored several more hits on them, deliberately aiming for places where they were unprotected by Kevlar, taking them out of the fight as their comrades dragged them out of the line of fire as I ducked behind cover again.

Jeez, take a fucking hint already!

I decided to try using [Mana Burst] on the next bullet I fired to see what would happen. Hell, the worst thing that could happen was the pistol blowing up, so whatever.

Firing the mana-enhanced bullet, I kinda gaped as it streaked at the police like a red comet before blowing up just in front of them, sending the uniformed men flying back and into unconsciousness.

 **Skill creation failed!**

 **You require INT 100 and [Mana Burst] LV25 in order to create this skill. Please try again once you have completed the requisite perquisites.**

Damn, could have made a gun skill like the one from Secret World. New plan: reload and run like hell. There's too many of them to fight without revealing the supernatural skills that I have. Looking around, I spot a window and a car just a short distance away. There is quite the drop out the window, but I think I can manage it.

Firing off my last few rounds in the ammo clip, I eject the spent clip and stow it in my inventory before reloading with a fresh clip, leaving me with 42 bullets left for this pistol.

Grabbing a nearby computer chair, I chuck it through the window and leap out after it. Hitting the ground, I roll to my feet and run like hell as the police crowd at the window and start firing at me through the shattered pane.

"Fuck, shit, bloody bastard hell!" I muttered as I ran left and right to confuse their aim. I really didn't want to expose the supernatural world to the regular humans, because I'd bet one-million yen that it would mean a hit being put on my head or something.

When I reached the car, I shot the driver's side window before slamming my elbow into it, shattering the rest of it. Reaching inside, I undo the lock and pull the door open and duck inside, slamming the door shut behind me.

Remembering something I saw in a film once, I pull down the sun visor and, what do you fucking know? A set of car keys falls into my waiting hand. Who knew someone would be dumb enough to hide their keys in the one place everybody looks for keys first?

Recalled to my situation by the bullets landing around the car, I ram the keys into the ignition and twist them clockwise, making the engine roar to life. Hell yeah.

I had never been much good at driving games, but I knew the basics on how to operate a car. I shifted into first gear and hit the gas pedal, sending the car forwards. Great. Here I am, seventeen years old, and I'm guilty of carjacking and grand theft auto, which is ironic because I got the basics of carjacking from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

 **[Partner, you might want to speed up.]** Ddraig put in, **[They've started pursuit of you in their own cars.]**

Just fuckin' brilliant. As I shifted the car into second gear and sped up, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw three patrol cars closing in on me. Just great. I have no driving skills and no driving experience other than in computer games and I have to get away from these guys.

Shifting to third and then fourth gear, I was rather grateful that it was mid-evening , as there were very few people out and about, even in the rough area of town that the old HQ was in. I had to lead these guys on a wild goose chase before ditching them and heading home, so Janne can interrogate me about when I was with Sister Asia.

Oh joy.

Screeching around a corner, I suddenly realised that I have neglected to put my seatbelt on, evidenced by the fact I almost went sailing out the passenger's side window. Spitting out several choice words, I slam the belt home and keep driving.

"PULL OVER AND SUBMIT TO ARREST RIGHT NOW!" was bellowed at my back by a fairly angry policeman through a loudspeaker.

 **Persistent, aren't they?**

It's kinda their job to be, Bob. Policemen that aren't persistent in catching criminals generally stay at the bottom of the totem pole forever.

The distinct snap-crack of pistols being fired lets me know that my dance partners are back at the 'let's-kill-Issei' stage, which fails to surprise me given how dismal my luck has been for the last…has it only been half an hour?

CLANG!

Oops, ran over a bag of rubbish. That reminds me, it's the day for putting out non-recyclable trash tomorrow…

This driving thing is harder than I thought it would be!

Oh shit! A roadblock! Two cars and a bucket load of cops behind them pointing their guns at me! I spin the wheel and take the car I'm in (I can't quite recall what type it wass…for all I know it might be a Skoda) down a side alley. Are they herding me? I can't tell.

 **[Judging by the large amount of swearing I heard as you turned into this alley, I doubt it.]** Ddraig informed me.

Good to know.

Calling the side street I'm on an 'Alley' is a bit of a misnomer. Small towns like Kuoh in Japan don't have very many alleys; instead we have numerous back streets, smaller than the normal ones, but still wide enough for a small car and careful driver to navigate without upset.

I was in possession of the latter and not the former, so there you have it. The end result being a lot of smashed bin bags, scattered rubbish and numerous dents and scratches on my stolen car.

After another fifteen minutes, I finally manage to ditch the car in the river after setting it on fire with my [Flame Scar] spell to erase any traces of my DNA. You can't be too careful nowadays. Besides, who knows what my [Draconic Shift] has done to my DNA? Nope, better to torch the damn thing and push it -throw it, rather- into the middle of the river so it will take forever for the cops to find it.

Oi…I'm thinking very much like a criminal now, aren't I? *sigh*

When I make it home, Janne is at my side and demanding to know what I've been up to since the end of the school day.

"Oh, nothing special." I reply casually, "I was almost recruited into a Devil's Peerage, trolled those selfsame Devils by running out in fake fear that I doubt fooled them for a second, went to a dungeon full of undead -after being turned into an undead first- confronted a 2000-plus-year-old Bone Dragon, fought the most disgusting boss ever, became human again, met a cute Italian Nun and escorted her to a rundown church that felt like it had at least one Fallen in it. I then found out that a rival gang decided to raid my HQ and kill a good number of my men, which makes me have the need to hire people so I could get revenge on the bastards who killed them, got into a gunfight with the police, swiftly followed by a car chase that took me across town, after which I added to my crimes by burning my stolen car and dumping it into the river. "

I paused as Janne's face became increasingly incredulous and slack-jawed as she absorbed everything. Rin, who had come in about halfway through my monologue, was also slightly disbelieving.

"So what have you two been up to?" I asked sweetly.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N:Yeah, hey...I have something to say.

...I'm rewriting Just Another Gamer. now you maybe wondering, Hey Author dude, why are you rewriting the fic? Well it's simple really...I just realized my story is a jumbled mess. One guest review made me realize this because when I saw it I went on to read the entire fic...I am ashamed.

What the fuck have I done guy's? one point is quickly getting to another, no progress whatsoever, some points of the story make little sense, Issei is suddenly becoming more powerful in a snap, well not in a Gary Stu way but you get the idea, and the fact that I have written myself into a corner...I am not proud of myself.

So that's why I'm rewriting this fic. The rewrite will be up in a few weeks, probably going to name it **Just Another Gamer: Redux** or when I come up with a better name. And I would like to ask you guy's for help.

...Yeah, I'm not bullshitting you. If you guys have any idea's, suggestions, criticisms or whatever for the rewrite, I would love to hear it.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N:Hey guy's! Sorry I'm late but my rewrite is finally out!

I'll admit, I now know the hardships of what authors had to go through rewriting their stories, It's simply hard when most of your motivation is sapped out! But let me tell you this, I now appreciate them and am glad I did the same.

The rewrite is called A Dragon's Gamer Life.

...I Know, not really an original name but let's just say naming it Just Another Gamer: Rewrite or Revamped is isn't orginal either. I would like to give a shout out to some people, like SeerKing, Meteorce, NinjaFang1331 and more for helping me with this rewrite.

Again, thank you guy's and I'll see you next time in the rewrite!


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